Ahead of the regional elections in March, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a conservative, is searching for the best way to combat the far right, which he has long considered a "tough rival" and probably his party's "biggest political rival." The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has categorically rejected any cooperation between his party and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the main opposition party, although some conservative voices have raised the possibility in recent months of opening up to some form of cooperation with the far right.

The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) The AfD has relaunched its youth wing in an attempt to improve its image ahead of the 2026 regional elections. Far-right leader Alice Weidel emphasized that Generation Germany—the name of the AfD's new youth wing—will be the party's "talent pool." Although founded just a week ago, the youth organization is already under scrutiny from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the intelligence service of the German Interior Ministry. Generation Germany takes over from the AfD's former youth organization, Alternative Jove, which was considered too radical and difficult to control, even for the far-right party's leadership, and classified as far-right by German authorities. Its status as an independent association made it more vulnerable to a potential ban, which could have severely damaged the party's image. The AfD leadership therefore decided in March to dissolve Alternative Jove and create a new, less extreme organization more closely linked to the party. This makes its banning legally more difficult and increases Weidel's control. Experts believe it cannot be banned unless the entire organization is. Members of Alternativa Jove will also be members of the AfD, unlike before. In this way, rule violations or misconduct by AfD youth members can be sanctioned, even with expulsion from the party.

When the global financial crisis broke out, a young German economist was preparing her doctoral thesis while living in China. She worked at the Bank of China and had become fluent in Mandarin. A few years later, upon returning to Germany, she joined the AfD. Now Alice Weidel is the candidate of the extreme party right in the upcoming German elections.

He Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán Orbán has entered the German election campaign on Wednesday by supporting Alice Weidel, the leader of the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is second in the polls for voting intentions for the German elections on 23 February. Orbán considers the far-right leader to be "the future of Germany". "All points of the AfD programme benefit Hungary, above all on the migration issue," said Orbán at a joint press conference with AfD held in Budapest.