The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party creates a distorted impression of criminality in Germany by focusing on foreigners suspected of crimes and ignoring others, a new study has found.

Professor Thomas Hestermann from Hamburg's Macromedia University of Applied Sciences and Professor Elisa Hoven from Leipzig University analyzed more than 240 AfD press releases from 2018 that dealt with crime.

"Ninety-five percent of the suspects described therein are non-German, only 5% are German — and even the few German suspects mentioned are also consistently referred to as having a migration background," the researchers said.

By comparison, Germany’s official police crime statistics show that the proportion of non-German suspects is less than 35%.

Immigrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan accounted for 5.3% of all suspects in 2018, with Afghans and Syrians suspected in 1.5% and 2.5% of all criminal activities.

In the AfD press releases, the percentage of crimes attributed to Afghans and Syrians was 20% and 19%.

Read more: Syrian girls attacked in Berlin, racism suspected

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Christian Democratic Union (CDU) The CDU has traditionally been the main center-right party across Germany, but it shifted toward the center under Chancellor Angela Merkel. The party remains more fiscally and socially conservative compared to parties on the left. It supports membership of the EU and NATO, budgetary discipline at home and abroad and generally likes the status quo. It is the largest party in the Bundestag.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Christian Social Union (CSU) The CSU is the sister party of the CDU in Bavaria and the two act symbiotically at the national level (CDU/CSU). Despite their similarities, the CSU is generally more conservative than the CDU on social issues. The CSU leader and premier of Bavaria, Markus Söder, ordered crosses in every state building in 2018.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Social Democrats (SPD) The SPD is Germany's oldest political party and the main center-left rival of the CDU/CSU. It shares the CDU/CSU support for the EU and NATO, but it takes a more progressive stance on social issues and welfare policies. It is currently in a coalition government with the CDU/CSU and is trying to win back support under interim leaders Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel, Manuela Schwesig and Malu Dreyer.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Alternative for Germany (AfD) The new kid on the block is the largest opposition party in the Bundestag. The far-right party was founded in 2013 and entered the Bundestag for the first time in 2017 under the stewardship of Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland. It is largely united by opposition to Merkel's immigration policy, euroscepticism, and belief in the alleged dangers posed by Germany's Muslim population.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know Free Democrats (FDP) The FDP has traditionally been the kingmaker of German politics. Although it has never received more than 15 percent of the vote, it has formed multiple coalition governments with both the CDU/CSU and SPD. The FDP, today led by Christian Lindner, supports less government spending and lower taxes, but takes a progressive stance on social issues such as gay marriage or religion.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know The Greens The Greens, led today by Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, emerged from the environmental movement in the 1980s. Unsuprisingly, it supports efforts to fight climate change and protect the environment. It is also progressive on social issues. But strong divisions have occasionally emerged on other topics. The party famously split in the late 1990s over whether to use military force in Kosovo.

Germany's major political parties — What you need to know The Left The Left, led by Katja Kipping and Bernd Riexinger, is the most left-wing party in the Bundestag. It supports major redistribution of wealth at home and a pacifist stance abroad, including withdrawing Germany from NATO. It emerged from the successor party to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) that ruled communist East Germany until 1989. Today, it still enjoys most of its support in eastern Germany. Author: Alexander Pearson



Other distortions

The researchers also said the AfD's claims of a growing "knife epidemic" in Germany cannot be statistically proven, especially since data collected by the police are incomplete. Current figures from Lower Saxony's State Office for Criminal Investigation show that only 2.8% of recorded acts of violence in 2017 were perpetrated with knives.

The study also found that the AfD does not address effective measures in violence prevention in their press releases and instead focuses on a repressive "law and order" solution to crime.

Above all, the party advocates for a tough stance against immigrants and foreigners living in Germany, especially Muslims.

"The AfD presents itself here as the only party that is prepared to fight crime with what it sees as the right means: by closing the borders and immediately expelling criminals," the authors said.

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