Far Right Finds Successful Strategy in Northeastern Germany

The campaign posters along the streets and in town squares look innocent enough. There are colorful pictures of the German flag, beaming (usually blond) children, and words like "home" and "work" on them. The slogans ­ "working for the people" or "a future instead of the unemployment office" ­could be on any party's campaign materials.

But this is not any party; it's the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), a political grouping which experts consider xenophobic and anti-Semitic, and which models itself largely on Adolf Hitler's National Socialists, or Nazis.

"Today, you have a socially engaged face to a racist party," said Hajo Funke, a professor at Berlin's Free University who specializes in far-right movements.

The NPD is likely to gain seats in the state legislature of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Sunday's election, since most analysts think it will surpass the five percent hurdle needed to make it into the statehouse. Most predictions put the percentage at six to seven percent.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the party got 10 percent of the vote," said Funke.

Winning strategy

It will likely achieve that thanks to a strategy that has shown itself to be quite successful in this largely rural state of isolated villages and large stretches of enchanting, lake-strewn countryside. Despite the natural beauty, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, or Meck-Pomm for short, is struggling under a crippling unemployment rate of 18.2 percent.

Manufacturing, such as traditional industries like shipbuilding, collapsed after reunification and no region in Germany has been left as poor as its northeastern corner, or with as high a jobless rate. While the region is trying to build up its tourism sector and attract other medium-sized industries, it hasn't been enough for many of the states 1.8 million residents, many of whom feel they have taken the brunt of reunification without reaping any of its rewards.

All of this together has proven fertile ground for the NPD.

"It works because democracy there is weak and the social and economic problems are very serious," said Funke.

Make-over

The NPD has also taken great pains to present a new face to a public, ready for a message that seems to address their own pocketbook problems and frustration. Instead of the traditional neo-Nazi uniform of shaved heads, bomber jackets and high-laced boots, the NPD in Meck-Pomm has changed into suits and ties. They now prefer verbal blows rather than fists, which have been their traditional mode of exchange.

"In the last five years, the far right has shed its image as thugs and worked hard to present itself as an acceptable political partner," according to a March study by the MBT Group for Democratic Culture in Meck-Pomm.

The NPD's leading candidate in the state is Udo Pastörs, a 54-year-old jeweler who rails against the left-wing state governing coalition and promises to fight for German jobs and a new minimum wage if his party gets into the legislature. It's a message that many people find attractive, especially those in smaller communities or rural areas who feel they have been abandoned by the bigger parties.

If the NPD does surpass the five-percent mark, as most expect, it will be the third time a far-right party is represented in an eastern state government. Two years ago, Germany was shocked when the NPD won 9.2 percent of the vote in Saxony.

Serious threat?

Still, most agree that the party poses no threat on the national level. In last September's federal elections, the NPD won just 1.6 percent of the vote. But according to Funke, a victory would still be dangerous, especially
in the east, since it would show that the far-right's current strategy is a winning one in the current climate. Extremist groups in other states could adopt it.

Funke says politicians need to educate people about the NPD, what it really stands for and show them that its proposed solutions are really no solutions at all.

He says it is particularly important to educate young people, who have been especially targeted by NPD campaigns. Since many of them see dim futures for themselves, they are particularly vulnerable to right-wing messages.

"Many people there are quite apathetic regarding democracy," he said. "They say, 'it doesn't solve our problems' and that is the core of the problem."