AfD's new youth wing: What you need to know | Berlin Briefing Podcast

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has launched a new youth wing called "Generation Germany"—a training ground for the party’s future leaders. But this isn’t just a German story. It’s part of a global trend of far-right movements gaining ground across democracies. In this Berlin Briefing episode, host Nina Haase is joined by seasoned political journalists Matthew Moore and Hans Pfeifer who have followed the AfD for years. Together, they break down: What happened at the founding meeting and the protests surrounding it How the AfD is trying to replace its scandal-ridden predecessor with a more strategic youth wing What the new leader represents—and his ties to extremist networks Why this matters for Germany’s elections next year, where the AfD is polling at record highs in the east 👉 Watch now to understand why the rise of Generation Germany could reshape politics far beyond Germany. CHAPTERS: 00:00 Intro 03:24 Protests + heavy police presence 09:40 AfD reacts to protests 12:06 Freedom of speech 13:53 You should care about the AfD youth 15:52 Ethnic nationalism + Nazi stormtrooper references 19:47 New leader of the AfD youth 24:54 “Hitler style”: Satire? Undercover agent? 32:17 Predictions DW Berlin Briefing on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dw-berlin-briefing-inside-german-politics/id1775699172 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/07Wp4c6w9qVIYmB7JIbFBZ RSS feed DW Berlin Briefing: https://rss.dw.com/xml/podcast_Berlin_Briefing For more news go to: https://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/s-9097 Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews/ ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://x.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish For more news go to: http://www.dw.com/en/ Follow DW on social media: ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwnews ►TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dwnews ►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deutschewellenews/ ►Twitter: https://twitter.com/dwnews Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: https://www.youtube.com/dwdeutsch Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/user/deutschewelleenglish?sub_confirmation=1