Björn Höcke is a popular leader of the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) and the regional spokesman for the AfD in Thuringia. For some of his previous speeches, see November 2015 (“Asylum Catastrophe”, “A Betrayal of Our People”, “Germany is Not Negotiable”), December 2016 ( “We Say NO to a Tolerance That Ends in Self-Abandonment”), and February 2018 (“The Murder in Kandel Was an Attack on us All”).

In the following video, Michael Stürzenberger interviews Mr. Höcke after the city of Munich attempted to ban an AfD meeting, but was overruled by an administrative court.

Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

00:09 Mr. Höcke, how would you rate the attempt by the city of Munich

00:12 to ban this meeting here and to prohibit you

00:15 from speaking, as a member of the Bundestag,

00:18 along with John Huber and the leader of the AfD in the Bavarian state parliament?

00:23 Yes, an amateurish action which was from the outset legally completely hopeless.

00:28 We thank them for the good advertising, because that’s what caused such

00:31 a media echo that it indirectly advertised the event.

00:35 No one can act as moronic as the city of Munich. I’m saying this in a context

00:40 in which I no longer view the city of Munich as a neutral administration, but actually more like

00:44 a political player. That is something that basically shouldn’t happen in a constitutional state.

00:48 Is there any anti-democratic behavior happening here? It seems like something deeply rooted in the

00:53 Social Democrats? —I would subscribe to that directly. It is unbearable when an administration

00:59 that is supposed to protect the ideological neutrality is abused in such a way and so obviously.

01:06 It is just another indication that this constitutional state is

01:10 fast going to the dogs and is already heavily deformed.

01:15 It’s a good sign that an administrative court is still lawful though, isn’t it?

01:19 Yes, we firmly expected this verdict, of course.

01:23 This also shows us that there are still judges in the judiciary

01:26 who are willing and able to declare the law

01:29 and rightly interpret it. This means, of course, that all democratic parties in the country,

01:34 all rightful citizens have the right to freedom of expression and a right to freely form their own

01:39 opinion through education. That is what we have practiced here today in the context of this event.

01:44 Thanks for that. —In your speech, you portrayed migration as the central problem of politics.

01:50 Germany is not a settlement area. Is this an existential question for our country?

01:54 That is the political question that must be at the center of all our efforts. If we don’t solve

02:00 the migration problem, if we don’t slow down the migration dynamics, then in a few decades

02:07 we will experience a cultural and civilizational breakdown in Germany and in Europe

02:12 of historic proportions. That is what we need to avert. —You’ve also said that Africa will have

02:18 an exorbitant increase in population by 2050, and the pressure will hit Europe.

02:21 There is only one course of action, and that’s batten down the hatches,

02:24 something Matteo Salvini has also discussed with Orbán. —Yes, if we want to be able to recognise

02:30 something European in Germany in 50 years, what we now associate with Europe and Germany.

02:34 In light of the world demographic situation,

02:37 as you mentioned correctly, the 800 million that Africa

02:40 will add by the middle of the century, then we have to, unfortunately I must say,

02:46 it is ethically responsible in light of this demographic situation.

02:50 We have to think of Europe as a fortress and live as a fortress.

02:54 All over Europe, the right-wing conservative parties are now also growing,

02:58 and in the political alliance which the AfD is a part of with Matteo Salvini,

03:02 with the FPÖ and it seems to be gaining momentum.

03:05 Is it a positive sign and perhaps we can reverse this development in the future?

03:11 Yes. It is a real spring we’re experiencing right now. A political spring. Interestingly enough,

03:18 this time it isn’t Germany that is leading the way, as in the peaceful revolution of ’89.

03:24 Now it is the European partner countries, which are also the victims of the insanity of

03:30 Merkel’s immigration policy, where migrants come to spread their cultural enrichment.

03:35 It is for the most part not enriching; that was meant ironically.

03:39 In Italy, in Spain, in the southern

03:42 countries, the people there experience every day that this multi-cultural realisation madness

03:47 brings disadvantages. Internal security is decaying,

03:51 and life is no longer worth living in some areas,

03:55 for our women, and especially in southern Europe. This has already changed life there.

03:58 Public spaces have become less secure. People are slowly waking up. I’m proud that we have

04:05 the European partners and I hope that after the EU election we will also have a strong patriotic

04:10 faction in Brussels and Strasbourg. —We don’t just have the EU election on the 26th of May.

04:15 We also have the Thuringian state election in October. The polls are at about 20-22% currently.

04:20 Do you also see this positively? —Yes. We look forward to these state elections.

04:25 We know that we really have an opportunity in Eastern Germany. That is also the strategic goal

04:29 we have issued as the AfD’s state executive board of Thuringia,

04:33 to act as a political barrier in the landscape.

04:36 After October 2019, there will be no way around the AfD, in whatever form. Political manoeuvres

04:44 against us will no longer be possible. That has to be our goal.