In the next state elections in Thuringia, Björn Höcke wants to lead the AfD as the top candidate. At the party conference in Pfiffelbach, the head of state railed against Prime Minister Ramelow and showed his sympathy for Hungary's Prime Minister Orban.
Thuringia's controversial AfD state party and faction leader Björn Höcke has described Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a role model. "He is a role model, he is perhaps one of the last statesmen in Europe," said Höcke at the state party conference of the Thuringian AfD in Pfiffelbach in the Weimarer Land district. He likes to travel to Hungary to breathe freely. In Hungary you can express your opinion freely.
Orban is seen by many in the EU as a right-wing troublemaker. He is repeatedly accused of violations of the rule of law. He is also considered a critic of the sanctions imposed on Russia for the war of aggression against Ukraine. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) found in April that the Hungarian media was systematically taking sides with the government. Elections are therefore considered "free but not fair".
Höcke wants to run as his party's top candidate in the 2024 state elections. One wants to ask the question of power in 2024, he said in Pfiffelbach. "I want to lead you to the state elections in 2024 as the top candidate," Höcke called out to around 250 Thuringian AfD members. "I want us to hunt down the establishment."
In his speech, Höcke also attacked Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow: "If you dare to run again as the top candidate of the left, you will be completely defeated after the 2024 state elections". The AfD Thuringia will prepare a "political Waterloo" for "this worn-out prime minister," Höcke shouted.
The Thuringian AfD is classified by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a secured extremist effort. The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, described Höcke as a right-wing extremist. In the last state election in Thuringia, the AfD took second place behind the left with 23.4 percent of the vote.
