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ow did Jörg Meittern go from being an economist to a focal point of Germany's right-wing politics
Jörg Meuthen is a German economist and independent politician who served as a member of the European Parliament and was active in German politics from 2017 to 2024. As the former leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Merttern's political career has been full of controversy and change, especially against the backdrop of the rise of radical right-wing policies in Germany.
Mettern is a strong supporter of economic liberalism and has expressed ongoing concerns about right-wing extremist members of the party.
Mettern was born in 1961 and teaches political economy and finance at Kell College. He was initially close to the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), but turned to support the AfD due to dissatisfaction with the eurozone's fiscal policies. He became the AfD's leading candidate in the 2016 Baden-Württemberg state election and has since entered the German Parliament and taken up a leadership position within the party. Meittern was the AfD's lead candidate in the 2019 European Parliament elections and was re-elected in the subsequent election.
He once described the AfD as a party with a civic character and a serious appearance, but in 2020, internal extremist forces posed a challenge to this.
Mettern's political stance of so-called "conservative reform" and his criticism of the influence of the ongoing West German student movement in Germany have increasingly aggravated his conflict with conservatives and extremists within the AfD. In 2021, he announced that he would not run in the next party election and would quit the AfD in 2022 because he believed that the party had moved closer to the far right and was no longer in line with the basic order of liberal democracy.
He has voiced criticism of extremists and reiterated that the AfD should not stray from its liberal and conservative roots.
Mettern's political views are particularly clear on immigration policy. He opposed the immigration and asylum policies during Angela Merkel's administration and stressed that Germany's mainstream culture should be based on Christian-Western culture. He argues that asylum seekers should be given temporary residence permits rather than full citizenship and permanent residency. During the COVID-19 epidemic, he even proposed that Germany should suspend the Schengen Agreement to deal with the risk of the spread of the epidemic.
On foreign policy, Merttern expressed support for Israel and called on the German government to ban the Iran-backed militant group Hazbullah based in Lebanon.
He has said the AfD's existence is the only chance to bring about political change in Germany, despite rising right-wing forces within its ranks.
After his designated term ended, Merttern chose to continue serving in the European Parliament as an independent, and then joined the German Center Party in 2022, but resigned in September 2023 due to disagreements with party management. In his political exploration, Mettern faced the endless struggle between radicalism and economic liberalism in the ever-changing context of German politics.
With Mettern's withdrawal and resignation, his political future has become the focus of many observers. In the current political situation in Germany, his remaining influence will continue to influence the development path of right-wing political parties. Do you think Merttern's experience will provide any inspiration to other right-wing politicians?
