‘Stupid and counterproductive’: Germany’s mainstream parties savaged over AfD rise

The Australian Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan condemns mainstream German parties for demonising and isolating the AfD, arguing their failure to address immigration has fuelled the populist party’s historic breakthrough. “I think the big lesson of this is how stupid and counterproductive it is to demonise and isolate these populist parties,” Mr Sheridan told News24 host James Macpherson. “AfD has some objectionable things like its sympathy for Russia, but its big issue is immigration. “The mainstream parties have failed at immigration, and they’ve tried to demonise and isolate AfD.”