Steinmeier: The Shadow of the Weimar Republic Over Germany

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has warned that Germany is in danger of slipping back into the divisions that marked the Weimar Republic before World War II, due to a flood of disinformation spread by anti-democratic extremists.

Steinmeier's comments, made in a speech marking the anniversary of German reunification in 1990, followed two state elections in eastern Germany last month in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the largest share of the vote. The third election, in the capital Berlin, was won by the far-left Left party.

The speech did not specifically mention any party, but Steinmeier condemned the "intolerable political demagogy of extremist forces," which he said were threatening freedom and democracy and endangering the unity of the country.

Elections in the eastern federal states of Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democrats suffered their worst defeat in their history, have shaken the ruling coalition, which came to power last year on a promise to revive Germany's stagnant economy.

Instead, during Merz's term, voters' concerns about falling living standards and economic decline deepened, contributing to the AfD remaining at the top of political polls for more than a year.

The AfD, for its part, rejects the far-right label, arguing that mainstream political parties use it to discredit it and question ideas supported by millions of Germans.

Germany remains Europe's largest economy and a major industrial power. But its manufacturing base has come under pressure from increasing competition from China, while Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought war to its doorstep and cut off the cheap oil and gas it once relied on.

Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who served as foreign minister under former Chancellor Angela Merkel, said Germany needed "a thoughtful, consistent, professional and steady government policy more than ever."

He said that democratic debate is being undermined by sophisticated disinformation campaigns “devised by Kremlin trolls, German far-right extremists or even misguided left-wing authoritarian figures and then flooded online by unscrupulous internet oligarchs.”

He acknowledged that many in both East and West Germany lack confidence in the political system and that as many as a third of voters "are showing with their electoral decisions that they are turning their backs on the key fundamental rights of our republic."

Steinmeier, whose function is largely symbolic but carries moral authority, drew a direct parallel to the period before World War II, when bitter political divisions led to the collapse of Weimar Republic democracy in Germany.

"Whether Berlin is increasingly resembling the Weimar Republic is a question that has yet to be answered," he said.