When Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) won a regional election last year, global headlines proclaimed the first far-right victory in Germany “since the Nazis.” Now Elon Musk has endorsed the AfD, arguing its depiction “as far right is absolutely wrong.”

With the anti-immigration party set to make huge gains at the upcoming federal election, the question has never been more pertinent: How right-wing is the AfD?

The AfD’s draft manifesto, due to be confirmed at the party conference this weekend, is certainly a drastic rejection of the status quo. It advocates a U-turn on asylum policy, Germany’s exit from the EU, a return to nuclear energy and an immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia.

It describes Russia as “a reliable provider and guarantor of cheap energy,” while arguing that “the geopolitical and economic interests of the US increasingly diverge from those of Germany.” On economics, it’s largely libertarian, promising lower taxes, welfare and bureaucracy.

That may not sound particularly “far right,” but the manifesto grants only limited insight into what the AfD would actually do in power. Currently no party is willing to form a coalition with it, freeing it up to write a program that it will probably never have to implement. The result is a strategy document designed to win support and shape the image of the AfD rather than give voice to the party’s full ideological range.

There is no mention of the term “remigration,” for instance, despite the fact that AfD politicians use it regularly to advocate forced deportations of immigrants to their country of origin. The Bavarian chapter of the AfD officially adopted a “Remigration Agenda” recently in which it demanded the “comprehensive remigration of........

© Bloomberg