Erfurt
(dts news agency) - Topics included the future of the European Union,
the general economic situation and, above all, migration. Höcke's
repeated demand that "This EU must die" and a debate about it on social
media with Voigt were the original trigger for the TV duel, which the
Welt-TV broadcaster broadcast live from its Berlin studio. In the
broadcast, Höcke said that bureaucracy and control in the EU had become
“unbearable”. Voigt admitted that the European Union is not perfect and
that things like the ban on combustion engines would annoy him too, but
that stability through the EU was essential.
Höcke
accused Voigt of the fact that the CDU itself had included the ban on
combustion engines in the European election program - there was the
sentence "We want to abolish the ban on combustion engines again". When
it came to the topic of migration, Voigt spoke of a situation that “can
no longer be accepted”. The fact that Germans don't get a place in some
daycare centers because it is reserved for foreigners is not the right
approach. The only German AfD district administrator in Thuringia is not
doing anything in this regard, and a payment card for asylum seekers
has not yet been introduced there.
Höcke
accused Voigt of saying that Angela Merkel and the CDU had caused the
current migration situation in the first place. With regard to the
general shortage of skilled workers, Höcke said that there are three
million young people without a vocational qualification and they need to
be trained first before skilled workers are brought in from abroad. In
addition, there must be incentives to have children again. Höcke's
public statement "Everything for Germany", for which he will be on trial
in Halle (Saale) next week, also became an issue. According to the
former history teacher, he did not know that it was a banned SA slogan.
At
the same time, he criticized that freedom of expression in Germany was
too restricted. “Please don’t cry here,” Voigt snapped at him. There had
been an excited debate about the TV duel for weeks, and on the day it
was broadcast, politicians had spoken out and criticized the
implementation, especially from the ranks of the SPD and the Greens.
Thuringia's CDU state leader Mario Voigt justified his participation.
"This
discussion has been avoided for 10 years. It has achieved nothing.
Today the AfD stands at 29 percent in Thuringia," wrote Voigt on
Twitter/X. There are state elections in Thuringia on September 1st,
Voigt and Höcke are each running as top candidates for their parties and
both want to become Prime Minister. The CDU-Thuringia is in second
place with 20 percent in the last Infratest survey, while incumbent
Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow's left is in third place with 16 percent.
The SPD faction sharply criticizes the TV duel with Höcke
Berlin
- "Björn Höcke is a fascist, that has to be made clear again and again,
he is not a democrat," deputy chairman of the SPD in the Bundestag,
Dirk Wiese told the Rheinische Post (Friday edition). "Giving him
and his AfD the opportunity to present themselves as a realistic
alternative for Thuringia is fatal. The CDU in Thuringia is making Björn
Höcke socially acceptable "He is against the interests of Germany, he
represents the interests of Russia," said the SPD politician. "I won't
watch the duel. Höcke is a right-wing extremist and Nazi and will
certainly try to act like a wolf in sheep's clothing tonight," said
Wiese. “I can do without the idea.”
Sources: