Overview
- In a Tagesspiegel interview reported by Die Zeit and WELT, Andreas Vosskuhle urged democratic parties to reconsider any cooperation with the AfD, saying they should think hard before “going to bed with the devil.”
- Looking to the 2026 state elections in Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania and Saxony–Anhalt, he said electing an AfD minister-president would have an “enormous exemplary effect” that could accelerate illiberal trends nationwide.
- He warned that an AfD-led state government could curb Holocaust education in schools, install loyalists across the judiciary, and deploy police and prosecutors against political opponents.
- Vosskuhle argued the AfD seeks to dismantle western-style parliamentarism, threatens freedom of expression, treats rival parties as corrupt traitors, and lacks the DNA of a pluralistic democracy.
- He framed the warning within a global rightward shift, citing Hungary as an example and pointing to risks he sees in Poland and France, as well as governments in the United States and Israel that view opponents as enemies.