AfD Leader Weidel: "Germany Is De Facto Bankrupt"

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel has argued that Germany is "de facto bankrupt," saying: "Germany is broke, and they are not telling you that... The whole thing is no longer financially sustainable."

She has extended the claim to France, asking: "Who is actually supposed to pay for this whole circus in the European Union?"

The Core Argument Is Rising Interest Costs

Weidel has focused on Germany's growing debt-servicing burden, warning that "interest costs alone are going through the roof" and that the country will eventually be forced to "freeze everything."

In a Bundestag speech, she said: "Whoever can only service the interest on their debts with new debts is bankrupt. France has already reached the stage of delaying insolvency. Germany is following closely under this government."

Projections cited alongside her remarks show German interest payments nearly doubling by 2030.

Direct Attacks on Merz

Weidel has called Chancellor Friedrich Merz the "biggest bankrupt" among German chancellors, tying her fiscal warnings directly to his government's large new borrowing for defense, infrastructure, energy transition and Ukraine aid following the loosening of Germany's constitutional debt brake.

She has also called Merz "the most unpopular chancellor" who has become a major burden on Germany.

Part of a Broader AfD Message

The "Germany is broke, who pays for the EU circus" framing has become a recurring AfD talking point, used both against the Merz government domestically and against deeper European fiscal integration more broadly, amid ongoing high energy costs and industrial decline in Germany.