AfD Leader Alice Weidel Calls for Euro Exit and Border Closures in ZDF Interview

Rhetorical offensive against coalition leaders

In her annual ZDF summer interview broadcast on 23 August 2026, Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel launched sharp personal attacks against Germany's governing politicians. Weidel singled out Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), accusing them of dishonesty and policy failure. She asserted that the federal leadership was either structurally incompetent or intentionally damaging the country. Weidel declared that she was prepared to work with any capable political partner who prioritized domestic interests, but insisted she would not tolerate voters being misled by the established governing parties.

Either you cannot do it, or it is deliberate. Mr. Merz cannot do it. Mr. Klingbeil cannot do it either.

Opposition to the CDU firewall and federal ambitions

Weidel addressed the CDU's strict policy of non-cooperation with the AfD, labeling the so-called firewall the most undemocratic concept in German politics. She argued that the firewall was actively destroying the CDU by permanently cutting off its path to parliamentary majorities. According to Weidel, the Christian Democrats will fail to win any future federal elections as political momentum continues to shift toward the AfD. Expressing confidence ahead of upcoming regional votes, Weidel claimed that her party would soon participate in government across multiple German states before eventually entering federal power.

I no longer want to be lied to by incompetent fools who sit up there, promise something, and do the exact opposite.

Currency policy and proposed Schengen withdrawal

Turning to economic policy, Weidel reaffirmed the AfD's party program commitment to pulling Germany out of the Eurozone. She described the common currency as an unstable soft currency that has caused massive wealth redistribution and widespread impoverishment among working populations, contrasting current conditions with Germany's pre-euro economy. On European border arrangements, Weidel announced plans to terminate the Schengen Agreement and close national borders completely. Pointing to recent irregular border crossings at the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta, she claimed that European asylum frameworks have collapsed and failed to guarantee domestic legal certainty.

Syrian repatriations and migration restrictions

Weidel set out hardline migration targets, pledging that an AfD-led administration would cease admitting individuals from Afghanistan and initiate the return of 1.3 million Syrian nationals currently living in Germany. She argued that initial reasons for granting refugee protection ceased to exist after the conclusion of the Syrian civil war, criticizing previous administrations for failing to execute returns. In addition to halting irregular entry at national borders, Weidel stated that Germany must reduce naturalization rates, end the granting of citizenship to individuals subject to deportation, and substantially increase administrative removals.

Electoral calendar and polling advantage

The interview preceded three state elections scheduled for September 2026. Voters in Saxony-Anhalt will head to the polls on 6 September 2026, where the AfD holds polling numbers above 40%, followed by state parliamentary elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on 20 September 2026. In nationwide tracking, the AfD currently leads the CDU/CSU alliance by up to eight percentage points, reversing the results of the 2025 federal election. A survey by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen placed the AfD at 27% nationally, five points ahead of the CDU at 22%, while the Greens, the Left, and the SPD each registered between 12% and 14%.