{"id":5997,"date":"2026-09-06T20:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T20:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan.thatscommunication.de\/russlands-angriff-deutschlands-selbstaufgabe-und-was-wir-von-der-afd-lernen-koennen\/"},"modified":"2026-10-29T08:41:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T08:41:01","slug":"russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD"},"content":{"rendered":"

The state election in Saxony-Anhalt has produced the expected and feared result. But what can we learn from it? An assessment by Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer, Secretary General of the Paneuropa Movement Austria.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

About a month ago, Russia attacked Leipzig airport. Reaction: nothing. Nada. Weeks later, on 2 September, Germany finally confirmed: \u201cYes, these were Russian drones.\u201d Russia, of course, protests, claims this is an outrageous impertinence on Germany\u2019s part, and that it has never attacked any sovereign country anyway. This Russian propaganda is eagerly repeated and amplified by enemies of the constitution on the right and the left of the political spectrum: \u201cYour government is lying to you.\u201d \u201cVon der Leyen is a warmonger.\u201d \u201cIn Russia, all is still well with the world.\u201d Messages like these run on a continuous loop. The result: the population is deeply unsettled. Not because of the devastating security situation, but because people no longer know whom to believe.<\/p>\n

The sad fact that party politics simply demands that people lie if they want to succeed does not help to regain the population\u2019s trust. For, as Abraham Lincoln so aptly put it: \u201cYou can fool some people sometime and you can fool some people all of the time, but you can\u2019t fool all the people all of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not very helpful that Commission President von der Leyen declared: \u201cIf the intention was to make us reconsider our support for Ukraine, I can assure you that it has only strengthened my resolve.\u201d For in a democracy, what matters (fortunately) is not the personal resolve of the political leadership, but the resolve of the sovereign, namely the people.<\/p>\n

How determined is Europe\u2019s sovereign?<\/h5>\n

Yet Europe\u2019s sovereign is anything but determined to stand up to Russia. It is not even sure whether it wants to remain the sovereign, or whether it might once again venture an authoritarian experiment. The result of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on 6 September shows that a party can openly oppose the foundations of Germany\u2019s constitutional order and even be officially classified as hostile to the constitution: people vote for it because it offers simple answers to highly complex questions. But perhaps also because it takes seriously concerns that others ignore or dismiss.<\/p>\n

Freedom, democracy and the rule of law are never a given. They were fought for, partly with words, partly with weapons in hand. But Europe\u2019s hands have grown soft. Weapons are evil anyway. And instead of standing up for what one believes in, one would rather keep sleeping in peace because it is more comfortable. This is also because many have lost the answer to the question of who \u201cwe\u201d actually are, and the courage to say so openly.<\/p>\n

Does this have anything to do with Christianity?<\/h5>\n

Does this have anything to do with Christianity? Not only, but also. The autocrats of this world know this, whether in China, where Christians are still marginalised, or in Russia, where Putin instrumentalises the Church for his own purposes. What do we live for today? Bullshit jobs, houses that hardly anyone can afford anymore, cars that keep getting more expensive (unless they come from China), or the children nobody wants to have anymore? People are stuck in total isolation. Even more so since Covid. This not only makes them easy prey for the extremist algorithm, it also takes away their \u201cwhy\u201d.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from the AfD? It does not apologise. It does not duck away. Instead, it stands up straight and says the unspeakable, the unthinkable, the inhumane. Where are the Europeans who stand up just as straight? We should say: \u201cThis continent belongs to us. Not to the fascists, not to the socialists, not to the algorithms, and not to those who feel \u2018offended\u2019 by our way of life, yet would prefer that thieves have their hands cut off.\u201d (We had that once, too. It wasn\u2019t so good.) Where are the people who, when struck on the left cheek, also turn the right one instead of ducking away? Not out of self-sacrifice, as is so often misunderstood, but out of resistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state election in Saxony-Anhalt has produced the expected and feared result. But what can we learn from it? An assessment by Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer, Secretary General of the Paneuropa Movement <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[838,1405],"class_list":["post-5997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-left","tag-sovereign","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nRussia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD - Paneuropa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD - Paneuropa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The state election in Saxony-Anhalt has produced the expected and feared result. But what can we learn from it? An assessment by Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer, Secretary General of the Paneuropa Movement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Paneuropa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-06T20:19:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-29T08:41:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1703\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dc7b31cbe55c00380267983ca2aba03\"},\"headline\":\"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-06T20:19:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-29T08:41:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":703,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"left\",\"sovereign\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/\",\"name\":\"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD - Paneuropa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-06T20:19:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-29T08:41:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dc7b31cbe55c00380267983ca2aba03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/10\\\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1703},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Start\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/paneuropa\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Paneuropa\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8dc7b31cbe55c00380267983ca2aba03\",\"name\":\"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer\",\"description\":\"Mag. Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer ist Generalsekret\u00e4r der Paneuropabewegung \u00d6sterreich. Er studierte Geschichte, Philosophie und Internationale Beziehungen in Wien. Nach Aufenthalten in Paris, Rio de Janeiro und S\u00fcdfrankreich arbeitete er an der Botschaft der Republik Korea (S\u00fcdkorea) in Wien, als Researcher im NEOS Lab und als politischer Referent f\u00fcr NEOS LiA.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/paneuropa.at\\\/en\\\/author\\\/lundstroem-halbgebauer\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD - Paneuropa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD - Paneuropa","og_description":"The state election in Saxony-Anhalt has produced the expected and feared result. But what can we learn from it? An assessment by Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer, Secretary General of the Paneuropa Movement","og_url":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/","og_site_name":"Paneuropa","article_published_time":"2026-09-06T20:19:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-10-29T08:41:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1703,"url":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/"},"author":{"name":"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8dc7b31cbe55c00380267983ca2aba03"},"headline":"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD","datePublished":"2026-09-06T20:19:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-29T08:41:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/"},"wordCount":703,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg","keywords":["left","sovereign"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/","url":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/","name":"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD - Paneuropa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-09-06T20:19:09+00:00","dateModified":"2026-10-29T08:41:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8dc7b31cbe55c00380267983ca2aba03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Landtag-Sachsen-Anhalt-web.jpeg","width":2560,"height":1703},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/russias-attack-germanys-self-abandonment-and-what-we-can-learn-from-the-afd\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Start","item":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/paneuropa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Russia\u2019s Attack, Germany\u2019s Self-Abandonment and What We Can Learn from the AfD"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/","name":"Paneuropa","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8dc7b31cbe55c00380267983ca2aba03","name":"Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer","description":"Mag. Georg Lundstr\u00f6m-Halbgebauer ist Generalsekret\u00e4r der Paneuropabewegung \u00d6sterreich. Er studierte Geschichte, Philosophie und Internationale Beziehungen in Wien. Nach Aufenthalten in Paris, Rio de Janeiro und S\u00fcdfrankreich arbeitete er an der Botschaft der Republik Korea (S\u00fcdkorea) in Wien, als Researcher im NEOS Lab und als politischer Referent f\u00fcr NEOS LiA.","url":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/author\/lundstroem-halbgebauer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6001,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5997\/revisions\/6001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paneuropa.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}