Brexit is a ‘model for Germany’, says far right AfD leader while party surges in polls

Brexit is a “model for Germany”, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party leader has claimed.

The UK’s exit from the European Union (EU) could be copied in the western European country, according to Alice Weidel in an interview with the Financial Times (FT).

AfD, she said, which is at 22 per cent in the polls, despite being partly designated extremist, would push for a copycat-style referendum on EU membership should it come to power.

Weidel, who has led her party since 2022, told the FT that Brexit was “dead right” and added: “It’s a model for Germany, that one can make a sovereign decision like that.”

She said if her party formed a government they would aim to reform the EU, its “democratic deficit”, and limit the European Commission’s powers, as an “unelected executive”.

And she warned: “But if a reform isn’t possible, if we fail to rebuild the sovereignty of the EU member states, we should let the people decide, just as Britain did.

“And we could have a referendum on ‘Dexit’ – a German exit from the EU.”

It comes as hundreds of thousands take to the streets in Germany to protest against far right parties, with 1.4m reportedly demonstrating since Friday.

The movement follows outcry over the AfD being involved in talks with the Austrian far-right on ‘remigration’ – forcibly removing millions from immigrant backgrounds, including citizens.

Weidel has said all the 1.1m Ukrainian refugees in Germany would “have to go home” when the war ends, and that it was a mistake to let them draw welfare payments from the state.

Crossbench peer Lord Peter Ricketts, who leads the House of Lords European Affairs Committee posted on X, formerly Twitter: “What a tribute to the German people. 

“After their generosity in welcoming in a million asylum seekers less than a decade ago, this is a resounding answer to reports of far-right groups plotting mass expulsion of migrants.”

Polls in Germany indicate a significant majority of voters – other than AfD supporters – back continued EU membership, and most main parties are proudly pro-EU.

AfD is reportedly expected to win a number of elections in eastern Germany this autumn, but would need to form a coalition deal to enter government – with the party leader admitting this was very unlikely to happen “before 2029” but insisted a role in government was “inevitable”.