Brandenburg’s AfD top candidate Berndt: Far-right with announcement

At 27%, the AfD will make a big noise ARD German Trends The most powerful faction in the Brandenburg state parliament, with Hans-Christoph Berndt, a proven right-wing extremist, leading the election campaign.

Anyone who listens to Hans-Christoph Berndt’s campaign speeches will notice one thing in particular: he knows exactly how to address his supporters to get their attention and get his message across. But in national politics, things are different, because details matter more than rhetoric.

Hans-Christoph Bernd, from Brandenburg, became an AfD member of parliament in 2018 and entered the state parliament in 2019. He has been the party’s parliamentary group leader since 2020 and leads the party in the state parliament. Before joining the AfD, the doctor of laboratory medicine worked at Charité and was also chairman of its staff council.

Colleagues

Berndt entered politics through the right-wing extremist group “Zukunft Heimat”, which he founded in 2015 and which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has certified as right-wing extremist. He and his club have repeatedly protested against the acceptance of refugees. Cottbus was to become a “center of patriotic resistance”.

He has been supported by the AfD and right-wing groups, including supporters of the so-called Spreelichter, a neo-Nazi network banned in 2012 for its “active struggle against democracy.”

According to the Constitutional Protection Office’s findings, Marcel Forstmeier, former head of the “Spreelichter” and former NPD member, together with Berndt, designed the “Zukunft Heimat” association and its content. The AfD’s top candidate’s connections to the neo-Nazi scene are one of the reasons why his party is classified as a case of suspected right-wing extremism.

Securing right-wing extremists

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has labeled Bernd a confirmed right-wing extremist. The 68-year-old denies the claims and repeatedly claims that the designation was made arbitrarily by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Instead, he calls the authority itself unconstitutional and explains that the AfD will not distance itself from his views despite the classification.

If Bernd becomes chancellor in Brandenburg, he explains to his supporters that he wants to “diminish the Office for the Protection of the Constitution”, i.e., dismantle Germany’s domestic intelligence service, which monitors right-wing extremists and must ensure the protection of democracy.

Meanwhile, Hans-Christoph Bernd does not hide his close partnerships with the far-right Identitarian movement, the right-wing campaign agency One Percent and the magazine Compact, all of which the Federal Constitutional Court classifies as right-wing extremists.

Would you like to join right-wing extremists for Brandenburg’s future?

This connection should continue to be important for him and the AfD in Brandenburg. He even presented it as a success factor for Germany’s future in his early election speeches. Take care.”

This is why the following applies to Junge Alternative, Compact or “One Percent”, Schnellroda, “Pegida” or “Zukunft Heimat”: “We do not distance ourselves! We stick together and defend ourselves!”

“Immigration is a promise”

In his speech, Berndt outlines migration, education, measures against the energy transition and citizenship as the core of the future AfD policy in Brandenburg. Berndt repeatedly emphasizes that ‘migration’ is not a secret plan, but a promise.

The AfD national politician wants to conclude a “migration agreement” at the European level. He does not say how this should work legally. Obstacles to deportations should be removed and asylum centers should be established outside Europe. The AfD is talking about “plans for large-scale deportations.”

Just three weeks ago, Hans-Christoph Berndt showed what measures he would use to exclude refugees: after a Syrian asylum seeker stabbed three people at a folk festival in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, he called for a special session of the Brandenburg state parliament.

The AfD parliamentary group called for the exclusion of recognized asylum seekers and Ukrainian war refugees from public events. In addition, the “Tolerant Brandenburg” action alliance, a state agency that strengthens democracy and diversity and takes action against right-wing extremism, should be stopped.

Start implementation

Berndt promises that anyone who votes for him will experience immediate change. For him, it’s ‘black gold instead of rainbow’.

In his first week in office, he will “launch initiatives” to lift sanctions against Russia and ensure peace between Ukraine and Russia. He has outlined exactly how state-level initiatives should address these issues.

The power of government It is invisible to the eye.

He also made the following promises: Constitutional reforms must be decided by popular vote from the first day of his term in office; and the use of renewable energy from wind and solar must be abolished. According to Berndt, wind turbines and solar power plants will no longer exist.

Despite his current high poll rating of 27%, Hans-Christoph Berndt has little chance of becoming chancellor. The polls are not yet enough to secure an absolute majority, and all parties have ruled out a coalition with the AfD, which could eventually become the largest opposition party in the Brandenburg state parliament.