Weidel calls for EU reform, Schengen exit and German EU membership referendum

A plan to rebuild the Union

Alice Weidel, co-leader of Alternative für Deutschland, said at a lengthy press conference in Strasbourg on 21 October that the EU in its current form urgently needs reform. The party's programmatic document proposes drastically shrinking the Union's institutions and, if that effort fails, holding a referendum on Germany's continued membership. Weidel built the plan on three principles: subsidiarity, responsibility and sovereignty. She argued that decisions belong at the lowest possible level, and that neither the state nor the unelected European Commission should intrude on private life. She also said the Commission holds the power of legislative initiative, a prerogative that normally belongs to parliaments.

Path to power and the Vannacci question

Weidel tied the programme to the AfD's recent regional election gains, saying the party is ready to take power in Germany. The document names 2029, the year of the next European and federal German elections, as the point to start the reforms. It states that a patriotic, right-wing majority in the European Parliament could then become reality. Asked whether Roberto Vannacci, leader of Futuro Nazionale, should ally with Giorgia Meloni's centre-right coalition, Weidel declined to advise any European politician, saying he knows his own country better. Vannacci was present at the press conference, and she said she was firmly convinced the decision taken was the right one, not only for his voters but for Italy.

Schengen, borders and the euro

Weidel said border protection is a prerogative of sovereign states and that, if the EU cannot guard external borders, member states must do it themselves. If the Schengen agreement stops working, she said, Germany should leave it. She called for foreigners who stir up disorder to be held and then expelled. On money, she argued that the bailout ban in the treaties has been breached for more than 10 or 15 years and that the European Central Bank is in effect financing public debt, which the treaties prohibit. She said every country and every institution must follow the agreed rules, otherwise chaos is unavoidable.

Ukraine and the great powers

Weidel said the EU had failed on Ukraine and was absent from the negotiating table. She argued that the Istanbul agreements of 2022 would have produced a far more favourable outcome for Ukraine than the current situation, and that Kyiv's negotiating position has since deteriorated. She rejected the suggestion that this amounted to a capitulation by Ukraine, calling instead for a pragmatic diplomatic approach that takes into account the interests of both Ukraine and Russia. She described the United States, Russia and China as the three great powers in play and said European leadership is practically non-existent.

Energy costs and unrest

Weidel blamed the Green Deal and the ban on new combustion-engine car registrations for making energy artificially expensive and pushing European industry out of the market. She said Germany had 19 nuclear power plants at its peak and now has none, which in her view is why German energy prices are the highest in Europe. She called for a return to the free market, lower taxes and a sharp cut in public spending. She also linked the unrest in France, Italy and Germany to circles on the left and to migration contexts.