Only honesty can kill the rise of Germany's AfD

As Germany braces for economic hardship and the mounting danger of confrontation with Russia, its leaders appear preoccupied with the wrong battle. The coalition government, the social democratic SPD party, and even Chancellor Friedrich Merz seem more intent on finding ways to muzzle the AfD party than on facing the realities before them. Yet none of them has the slightest notion of how to succeed. Their so-called strategy has descended into farce – a self-inflicted culture war that barely exists.

It is clear: the handling of the AfD by Germany’s centre political parties and the media is a disaster of historic proportions. Precisely because it is not an accident, not collateral damage – but a self-inflicted fiasco. The mainstream parties have spent years convincing themselves that moral o