Felix Banaszak, the chairman of the Greens party, admitted that his party shares some responsibility for the rise of the AfD. Speaking to the “Bild,” Banaszak stated that no democratic party can avoid this responsibility, adding that the Greens were themselves part of a culture war that contributed to the country’s increased polarization.
However, when discussing the AfD, Banaszak cautioned against exaggeration. When asked if AfD politician Ulrich Siegmund was “the most dangerous man in Germany,” he responded that descending into such a sensationalized, fearful narrative-where one watches out of morbid curiosity-ultimately risks empowering the wrong people. Instead, he asserted that voters in Saxony-Anhalt needed to decide whether they wanted to be governed by a party that lacked a clear relationship with the state’s monopoly on violence.
Banaszak placed the primary blame for the AfD’s current strength on Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). He noted that Merz had promised to reduce the AfD’s influence, explaining, “Now, the exact opposite has happened.” Banaszak argued that Merz has run his election campaign on promises that directly contradict his current actions, having chosen instead to tell “German lies.”
