Company: Evonik CEO warns against AfD

Christian Kullmann, CEO of the Essen-based chemical company Evonik , warns against the AfD and intends to continue his campaign against the party. "The AfD wants to undermine democracy; its anti-European policies are a threat to the economy," the CEO told Düsseldorf's Rheinische Post newspaper . The party, which is partly right-wing extremist, is contemptuous of the state. "You can't make politics with the Nazi mob," Kullmann emphasized.

CDU politician Jens Spahn recently advocated treating the AfD like any other opposition party in the Bundestag's procedures and processes. He received both support and criticism from within his own party. Representatives of other parties also expressed criticism of the proposal.

"Spahn's move is a mistake," said the Evonik CEO. The AfD wants to destroy democracy. "Instead of normalizing it, the CDU/CSU should undermine it with good policies," Kullmann emphasized. The AfD has now established itself in the German party landscape. The ongoing dispute within the "traffic light" coalition has also contributed to this. "However, half of AfD voters are fear voters; they can be won back if the new government governs well," emphasized the Evonik CEO.

Meanwhile, theologian and SPD politician Richard Schröder argued in the Welt am Sonntag newspaper for giving the AfD committee chairs in the Bundestag. In a guest article for the newspaper, the former SPD parliamentary group leader in the last GDR People's Chamber wrote: "The AfD is not banned. Therefore, its representatives must be formally treated like everyone else." Denying the AfD committee chairs would give it "the trump card to portray itself as a victim, oppressed, and disadvantaged."

Schröder referred to the duties of the committee chairs: They chair the meetings and are responsible for the preparatory and follow-up work, but have "no authority to issue guidelines." Schröder, born on December 26, 1943, in Frohburg, Saxony, is considered an analyst and admonisher who repeatedly speaks out critically.