VOLKER SCHNURRBUSCH
Volker Schnurrbusch
Germany is a beautiful, magnificent country – and I want it to stay that way. Most Germans still remember what it was like to live in a prosperous, clean, and safe country where they felt at home among their fellow citizens. There was a social consensus about what was right and wrong – for example, that you don't attack police officers or emergency responders. Property was respected, and the same was naturally true for the opinions of others. But these certainties have become fragile. Today, we live in a country where the majority of Germans no longer feel safe, where more and more people see their freedom of expression threatened. Instead of a strong and reliable state, we are experiencing a policy of paternalism and coercion that reaches into citizens' pockets with ever-increasing taxes and mandatory levies, while fundamental state functions are increasingly neglected.
District Association
Ostholstein
member of the
European Parliament
The AfD is determined to counter this negative trend and finally set our country right again. This means a regulated immigration policy, a genuine social market economy, and a family policy that truly deserves the name. We stand for freedom instead of paternalism, reason instead of ideology, and civic-mindedness instead of subservience to the state.
I have always been critical of political parties, as they are often part of the problem, not part of the solution. The concept of the "party state" exists for a reason, suggesting that established parties plunder the state. Anyone with a discerning eye will recognize this when they look at the composition of institutions, authorities, committees, and associations. Even more worrying is the trend of those in power maintaining compliant accomplices within so-called civil society. The power of so-called NGOs, which are often in reality purely governmental organizations, must be exposed and, if necessary, broken when they curtail citizens' fundamental rights or further narrow the spectrum of acceptable opinion.
Our movement of freedom-minded citizens, which I joined in the spring of 2013, represents the Basic Law in its purest form: The state has the duty to guarantee its citizens a framework within which they can freely develop according to their abilities and inclinations. This includes protection from external and internal threats, the provision of infrastructure and services in both urban and rural areas, and a functioning, easily accessible administration. The state should serve the citizen, not the other way around. Therefore, all intrusions into private life that do not serve these purposes are unacceptable. Developments since the Merkel government have pointed in the opposite direction. German citizens have witnessed governments becoming increasingly overreaching, established political parties increasingly detached from the people, and the state apparatus ever more powerful. Today, public spending is at an all-time high, while our economy is suffering.
In the state parliament, I focused on the portfolios of economy, agriculture, education, and Europe. Based on my professional experience, I am also actively involved in media policy.
Similarly, I develop the party's program at the federal and state levels, and have been or am a member of the specialist committees for economics, agriculture, infrastructure and education.
Despite all the hostility and slander, which are unworthy of an open society, we have stood firm. Since the failed euro bailout policy, our criticism has consistently proven correct – whether regarding uncontrolled mass immigration, overbearing COVID-19 measures, or the disastrous energy transition. We are also on the right track in foreign policy when we pursue compromise rather than confrontation.
Respect for the sovereignty of other nations is always paramount for us. That's why I'm in exactly the right place in the European Parliament as a member of the ESN group. Here, I coordinate our work in the Committee on Transport and am also a substitute member of the Committees on Economic and Monetary Affairs,
Environment, regional development, and fisheries. Despite all my criticism of the EU, it is important to me to contribute constructively to parliamentary work, prevent negative developments, and above all, implement the will of the voters.
Together with other patriotic forces, we want to make Europe, in all its cultural diversity, economic innovation and scientific wealth, once again a confident force in the concert of nations of the world!