my guest today is the influential afd mp, peter baranka. will his party try to exploit the weakness of angela merkel? welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. let us start with a big picture of german politics today. in some ways, nothing much has changed. here we are again facing a grand coalition led by angela merkel with the christian democrats together. actually, things quite different this time? we are not even there. we don't have that coalition yet. we will have that pretty soon. and having said that, i would agree that it is no longer at the same. we have a coalition of official losers. they have lost more than 15% from last autumn. in the meantime they have lost even more. they have lost more than 20% since 2013. it is of course a different situation, absolutely. what is your situation, absolutely. what is your situation in the afd? are you going to be constructive? you now are in essence the biggest opposition party. we are. but fight is not an end in its own right, of course. we are not fighting just for the sake of fighting

this is the treatment afd is receiving all the time.cknowledge that the party is going to have to change and that part of that change is going to be different style, tone and language and maybe some members of the party who were senior figures in the past will not be in the future? yes, i will agree there. but that is normal with every party. yes, we have to become more professional, but, ultimately, you have to understand that the tone and the brutality is only a reaction from our side against the brutality of the ruling class. they break laws all the time, and it is us who give people who are really furious about developments in europe and germany a voice. sometimes, especially if you are not yet in a parliamentary position, which we had been up until, well, 2014, you have to use a little stronger language, all opposition parties have done that in the past. yes, but you can't excuse some of the things said by figures in your party. i don't want to excuse everything. i'm i don't want to excuse everything. alright. well, let's talk a li

my guest today is the influential afd for deutschland.est today is the influential md mp, peter boehringer. so how will his party try to exploit the weakness of angela merkel? peter boehringer, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. let's start with a big picture of german politics today. in some ways, nothing much has changed. here we are again facing a grand coalition led a angela merkel with the christian democrats and the gas ptt together. but actually, things quite different this time? ashok ‘s ptt. we do not have that coalition. we will have that pretty soon. having said that, i would agree that it is no longer the same, we now have a coalition of official losers, both the spd and the cdu of angela merkel have lost more than have been present at the general election last autumn and in the meantime they have lost even more, you could say they have lost more than 20% of the votes in 2013. it is a different situation absolutely. what is your strategy in the md? will you be looking for spoil was looking for a fight or will you tr

in the bundestag, all other parties strongly rejected the afd's stance. >> afd delegate demands an end to the cobblestones. with such statements, they mock the memory of the dead. shame on you. >> they talk about the cult of guilt, the dictatorship of remembrance, and monument of shame. this is intolerable historical revisionism in its purest form. >> the afd has talked about a monument of shame and called for a 180-degree turnaround in the way we remember history. reporter: hearing the debate, members of the afd were heard laughing and shouting. but none of them was prepared to repeat the controversial proposal. again and again the afd uses the same method. first they deliberately provoke, then, depending on the audience with a slightly relativize estimates. but supporters get the message. and attacks on germany's cultural remembrance don't seem to harm the party. afd politicians have criticized the holocaust memorial in the center of berlin. they are openly opposed to germany's basic conviction, never for that. instead, they call for an end to remembrance. sarah: today is the final d

his friends in the afd are another. was actively involved in that campaign. i've been trying to call the local party for the last two days now and there's simply no answer. but they have put out a press statement online. they say the press should be made aware that a member of the afd in brandenburg has converted to islam. and then it goes on to say, "we've taken note of this fact." "not without surprise," i bet you can say that again. they say it's a private matter for mr wagner but they maintain that, as they put it, "islam does not belong in germany" and that the religion is a grave danger, as they see it, to the country. i caught up with arthur wagner on his lunch break. he told me about his spiritual journey. it seems like you're searching for something. first you said you had a midlife crisis. yes. then you found the afd. yes. and then i have found this. they helped me. and now you've found islam. what are you searching for? today changed the whole world and i need, i must find the solution, how can we work the eu

the reason the afd did so well is because both of the big parties suffered in the election because ofir support for mr merkel‘s open door immigration policy, you may remember, back in 2015, summer of 2016 over two million people came into germany at the peak of the migrant crisis and some political lessons appear to have been learned because this new coalition deal says there will be a cap on the annual intake of between 180 and 220,000 people. well, a bit earlier i spoke to european regional editor here in the bbc news room. i wa nted editor here in the bbc news room. i wanted to understand how much reel influence the social democrats would have, over germany's government and angela merkel. well the finance ministry is the main thing, that signals a clear shift away from the policies previously of wolfgang should be her, he hasn't been finance minister since october but broadly speaking the cdu and its epitome was driving a policy of austerity, she was very tightly controlled in terms of the loa ns tightly controlled in terms of the loans that germany was prepared to extend to other

brent: what about the afd now be the biggest opposition party in germany?ear ago no one would've predicted that. melinda: that is what will happen if this cold ocean comes into place. we don't know that yet. then that will be interesting to see whether that spotlight shining on that party does them good or harm. i think there is a lot in this coalition agreement that goes to the feeling of persuasive insecurity and precariousness that has driven some germans into the arms of the far right. whether the coalition, if it implemented -- if the agreement is truly implemented will win them back remains to be seen. but i see material in here that could possibly go in that direction if it is implemented the way it is written. brent: all right. our chief political correspondent melinda crane with very clear analysis, thank you very much. dw took to the streets of bonn, germany to ask ordinary germans what they make of today's deal. >> after only reaching this agreement by the skin of their teeth, i doubt it is a really good thing for the whole country. most politici

ground between these quite center-left policies of the spd and the more hard-right positions of the afd it's now up to the -- if this deal has gone ahead and things are settled, it seems like it will be up to the spd membership >> it seems like a balancing act, but it looks like the devil is in the details. i think the important thing for the markets is the composition of the future coalition cabinet. the sdu will get economy and defense ministry so says the "bilt newspaper. so things seem to be looking goo good >> the bavarians will want control over migration, and it seems likely they will have a greater say when it comes to the immigration numbers. one challenges has been trying to get some of those right of center voters on the side with the spd has been espousing that family members of immigrants already in germany should be allowed to join those. >> reporter: in gealready in germany. this is something that it seems like they will have control of they have different party elements in different ministries we saw this over the past few years, and it means there's more autonomy given

the afd is now pulling stronger. missed the, we chance. missed the chance. in the last four years we had the majority. we did not use the majority. race. have a right wing all over europe, the right-wing parties became stronger, and that is the danger for society. matt: doesn't it seem the german voters have moved further to the right? the csu is more right wing than the cdu. if you look at them together, they do have a majority of voters in germany. gesine: the problem is a lot of voters are disappointed, and they have found a social division in our country. if we have a growing number of living,ho make their they have to ask for social care, that is not good. who voted fore usd are not right wing. it was a vote of discontent. what do you see resulting from that? in the daily work that you do in the bundestag, you used to have the budget committee, now it is in afd member heading that committee. are they able to make policy? gesine: of course. they have influence. one side is how to leave the commission, but the other side -- for our talk

and they don't want the afd, right-wing more of europe. this will lead to greater polarization. what i see happening is that the latest in four years time, you are going to see the christian the post-merkel christian democrats, we will be back to left versus right. which will, by the way, be a great thing because they don't have to do anything. they are just doing what they achieved in 2017, 2018. melinda: our title grand coalition government wanted. this might not be the government germany wanted, but could it be the government germany needs? charlotte: yes. we need a stable government and chancellor. melinda: thanks to all of you for being with us and for you for tuning in. >> this week, lobal 3000" heads to mexico, where customary automobiles are being transformed into vehicles of the future. will that improve life for the smog-ridden city's 9 million residents? a basic income trial in finland is being followed with great interest around the world. how's it going? but first, we head to the central african republic, a land

and they don't want the afd, right-wing more of europe. this will lead to greater polarization. what i see happening is that the latest in four years time, you are going to see the christian the post-merkel christian democrats, we will be back to left versus right. which will, by the way, be a great thing because they don't have to do anything. they are just doing what they achieved in 2017, 2018. melinda: our title grand coalition government wanted. this might not be the government germany wanted, but could it be the government germany needs? charlotte: yes. we need a stable government and chancellor. melinda: thanks to all of you for being with us and for you for tuning in. narrator: join "town hall los angeles" as we explore the timeliest issues facingng our reggion with top experts. ask your questions to those who shape southern california. we're l.a.'s largest and most eststablished publilic forum and always remain nonpartisan. in our 80-year history, we've hosted over 5,000 speakers from politics to technology to entertainment. visit ouour web sisite to see e our upcomimin

and they don't want the afd, right-wing more of europe. this will lead to greater polarization. what i see happening is that the latest in four years time, you are going to see the christian the post-merkel christian democrats, we will be back to left versus right. which will, by the way, be a great thing because they don't have to do anything. they are just doing what they achieved in 2017, 2018. melinda: our title grand coalition government wanted. this might not be the government germany wanted, but could it be the government germany needs? charlotte: yes. we need a stable government and chancellor. melinda: thanks to all of you for being with us and for you for tuning in. michelle: a very warm welcome from a chilly germany on this weeks' edition of "fokus on europe." i'm michelle henery. the metoo movement was a hashtag that went ral on social mia last ocber, brging to lit the pervivenesof sexual sault and hassment. and in sweden a count consided to furtherhead than mt when it mes to genderqualit-- the date over t movemensnowball in a socl phenomen. thousands of people have

the chairman is from the afd. if you can explain to me, how is it possible? do you work and govern together with a member of the far right party when you yourself are from the greens? >> i am a migrant by myself. born in turkey, but i grow up in bavarian germany, and these days we are talking a lot about german blood and german existence and germany especially. they want to show by each seeking, each talk in the parliament, they want to show us germany is a closed club and we don't belong to them. brent: have you experienced that personally? >> i do every day. brent: what do they say? >> in the normal life we are talking about nutrition. there is nothing like that, german nutrition, german coffee or tea or bananas. it is like they are building new walls. these are not brick walls, but these are walls of the mines and behavior. brent: what do you do? they are democratically elected. they are in the parliament. you have to govern some way. how do you find a path to govern? guest: we have to accept them as part of parliament, but i don't have to accept them pers

the new polls see the far right afd party coming out second strongest after the cdu party, even before social democrats. that is something unheard of. that has never happened before in germany. we have to be careful with these numbers. they might be a bit biased. the institute that published them is run by somebody who had to leave the cdu party because the positions were so far on the right end. but the general move cannot be ignored. the general trend continues, which is the rise of the right wing in germany. sarah: an alarming trend indeed. oliver sallet reporting on the very latest from berlin. thank you. sports news now. pablo foley elias is here with the big stories from pyeongchang. day 10 really dominated by the stories of doping. pablo: that is right. we have to start with the negative news. this is the man at the center of this doping story, alexander crucial minsky from the russian team. he tested positive for a banned substance, meld onium -- maldonium, which maria sharapova was banned for using, because it was banned in 2016. this is a drug available over-the-counter in ru

. >> g >> glor: the #metoo movement has afd monica lewinsky to reexamine her affair with president bill for 20 years she said it was consensual. now she has told "vanity fair," "he was my boss, he was the most powerful man on the planet, he was 27 years my senior with enough life experience to know better." we have some sad news to report from washington state. two teenagers who went missing while snow shoeing were killed by an afternoon of after lamp. their bhoidz were found by snoqualme pass. up next here, after all the heartbreak, stoneman douglas high has something to celebrate. . then, my dna test helped me reclaim the portuguese citizenship you lost. i'm joshua berry, and this is my ancestry story. combine ancestry's dna test and historical records to discover your story. get started for free at ancestry.com allergies with sinus you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d... while the leading allergy spray only relieves six symptoms, claritin-d relieves eight, including sinus congestion and pressure. claritin-d relieves more. with best in-class t

and angela merkel struggled as a result of the rise of the afd party.aid to go to fresh elections in case they increased their support further? david: yeah, neither side could afford to go into new elections because of the rise of the right wing party, called an alternative for germany. it is kind of anti-immigrant, populist group. they were fearful of the rise of this party. carol: where is she today? your story does talk. if you go back a year ago, that she was in a very different position. how weakened is she today? david: she has probably never been more vulnerable. she has been a strong chancellor for this country. she is very popular. they call her mother. now she is seeing as vulnerable. there are some conservative members of her party taking potshots at her saying the coalition will never last for four years. she does not have that stature on the world stage that she did a year ago. she has kind of ceded that to the fresh face of macron in paris. and other leaders. she does not look quite as all-powerful in europe and in the world as she did. ca