### Reader’s Letter to The Guardian, 1st May 2024 ###
*** Ajit Niranjan ***
Dear Editor,
I watched Ajit Niranjan’s report on the rise of the AfD in Saxony (and Green activists in Munich, link below) and felt that I needed to add a facet to the discussion …
I am a passionate European and environmentalist, I have many friends and close relatives who are black or Asian and, in 2013, I visited, interviewed and reported on migrants on the Moroccan-Spanish border around Melilla. But I am now seriously considering voting for the AfD at the European elections in June.
My reasons are the following …
1. The German Greens are not at all environmentalist: They are more interested in the Ukraine war (with many now being experts in weapons systems) and the policies which they do get through are oppressive, impractical and ineffective (e.g. the Heizungsgesetz: Here I would be for heavily taxing fuel rather than dictating this or that impractical technology)
2. If the situation in Ukraine (and in Gaza) is not solved, and instead balloons into a wider conflict (highly likely!), then both the environment and Europe are doomed (I wanted to use a stronger word but stopped myself). Here let us not forget that emissions from “war” are not included in the CO2 calculations.
3. Brussels-centric Europe is massively damaging to both the environment and to Europe: A quick look at the track record shows this: 1.) e.g. a ten-year extension for permits to spray glyphosat! Air-travel back up to pre-covid levels, and 2.) Open borders across Europe create exploitation and pollution (over-extended freight roots, death of local commerce, power of the multi-nationals, cherry-picking of workforce and markets, etc.)
I deeply dislike AfDs policies on migration and on climate but they offer two key things for me …
They 1.) want to stop the Ukraine war and 2.) they want to dismantle the bureaucratic, neo-liberal, globalisation-fixated monster which is the Eurocracy in Brussels. For these two reasons, the AfD will get my vote in June. But probably not in subsequent elections here in Germany.
The main (and very sad) conclusion that we should take away here is the fact that “mainstream politics” has failed abysmally on all fronts and, instead of getting their shop in order, “the mainstream” simply spends it’s time looking for whipping boys and bogeymen to bash (e.g. the AfD).
This is beyond tragic!
PS: If you want I can expand this text into an article for you to publish!
Yours,
Alan Mitcham
Link to original video: https://youtu.be/yo5rU6oy0AQ
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