Dancing in the street

AfD supporters sing deportation song at election party

Brandenburg AfD leader Hans-Christoph Berndt (left) with party chairmen Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla may not be celebrating an election victory, but a record result.

(Bild: AFP)

AfD supporters celebrated the record result in the state elections in Brandenburg with a deportation song in a pub in Potsdam on Sunday evening.

In the state elections in the German federal state of Brandenburg, the SPD led by Minister President Dietmar Woidke narrowly beat the AfD to become the strongest party once again.

They were followed by the new alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) and the CDU, which achieved its worst result in East Germany since 1990. The Greens, Left Party, FDP and BVB/Freie Wähler remain below the five percent threshold and are not represented in the state parliament.

According to the state electoral administration, the SPD achieved 30.9% after all votes were counted (2019: 26.2%). The AfD, which is classified as a suspected far-right party by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Brandenburg, increased to 29.2% (23.5%). The BSW achieved 13.5 percent from a standing start. The CDU slumps to 12.1 percent (15.6).

Voter turnout higher than ever
The Greens (4.1 percent), Left Party (3.0 percent), FDP (0.8 percent) and Free Voters (2.6 percent) failed to reach the five percent threshold and did not win a single direct mandate that would have helped them enter the state parliament. Voter turnout was 72.9%, the highest ever for a state election in Brandenburg. In 2019, it was 61.3 percent.

AfD supporters celebrate election victory: "We'll deport them all"
 Several young AfD supporters sang to the tune of the song "Das geht ab. We'll party all night long" by the band Die Atzen: "Hey, that's going down, we'll deport them all, deport them all". They also held up the slogan "Deport millions" on a board.

Diatribes against West Germany
Later, AfD supporters danced in the street in front of the inn to the performance of a singer and his song: "Ost, Ost, Ostdeutschland". It says: "In the East, family means mother, father, child, the West doesn't give a shit because they're so open. Here you look after things, here you look after yourself. In the West, Ali plays cat and mouse with the cops. In the East you have cows and a chicken coop, in the West LGTBQ and a bang. East, East, East Germany." LGBTQ refers to people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans.

Brandenburg AfD leader Hans-Christoph Berndt, flanked by party chairmen Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, may not be celebrating an election victory, but a record result.

(Bild: APA/AFP/POOL/Liesa Johannssen)

Among the guests on election Sunday in Potsdam were the Berlin AfD chairwoman Kristin Brinker and the former Berlin CDU finance senator Peter Kurth. The event was secured by numerous private security guards who checked all visitors and journalists. The police were also present in the small town with a large contingent. 

Kickl congratulates on "impressive" result
About a hundred meters away, several hundred people demonstrated against the AfD. Placards and banners read "Potsdam Nazi-free", "Create lawless spaces" and "No space for the AfD". Everything went peacefully. During the course of the evening, some counter-demonstrators managed to get right up to the AfD rally site with a large banner. Police officers positioned themselves between the two sides. In the end, the left-wing demonstrators had to keep their distance again. AfD supporters applauded and sang their deportation song again.

Among the first foreign well-wishers was FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl, who spoke of an "impressive" result on Facebook. "The political reactions show that the system no longer has any issues, but is merely pursuing the destructive goal of keeping the AfD out of the top spot," Kickl continued.

Gauck does not consider AfD to be a Nazi party
German ex-president Joachim Gauck (84) does not consider the AfD to be a Nazi party. When asked whether top politicians such as NRW Minister President Henrik Wüst (CDU) were right to make such claims, he said: "No, they are not. There are Nazis in this party, there are Nazis all over Europe, especially many in Russia, by the way. But we can't necessarily get rid of these people because we can't banish the destructive from our societies."