Far-right AfD party in Germany begins election campaign

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(10 Aug 2021) The far-right Alternative for Germany party kicked off their nationwide election campaign tour on Tuesday with an open-air event in Schwerin, the state capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northern Germany.
Party co-leader Tino Chrupalla and deputy leader Alice Weidel took to the stage to speak to suporters ahead of the country's elections in September.
Alternative for Germany, or AfD, entered Germany's national parliament with 12.6% of the vote in 2017 and is currently the biggest of several opposition parties.
It has moved steadily to the right over the years while retaining a solid core of support; recent polls rate it at 10-12%.
The party benefited from anger over Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow large numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers into Germany in 2015.
Several senior figures have quit in recent years, warning that the party is being taken over by far-right extremists.
On Tuesday Weidel said the AfD stands for a country "in which we don't reproach each other for the deeds of generations that have long since passed away", brushing aside the responsibility that stems from the country's history of Nazi dictatorship, in which millions of people were persecuted and killed.
More recently, AfD has portrayed itself as a champion of resistance to coronavirus restrictions.
Speaking in Schwerin, Tino Chrupalla accused the government of having created an "industry of fear" to scare the public into compliance, calling the coronavirus an "alleged killer virus".
German chancellor Angela Merkel is not running for a fifth term.
Her party has chosen Armin Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state, as its candidate to become the next chancellor.

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