03Germany / European Union · Politics and economics
The AfD discovers the discipline of power
Facts
Alice Weidel’s strategy paper shifts emphasis from quitting the euro toward treaty opt-outs and stricter budget enforcement, while Germany’s CDU still rejects a coalition.
InterpretationThis is strategic normalization: influence inside Europe offers more leverage than exit for an export economy. It also cuts against the romantic sovereignist case—monetary rupture would impose immediate costs on the very industrial voters the AfD seeks to represent.