This is a must-read article by Germany influential paper Spiegel.  Spiegel argues that for years, a sense of disillusionment has been growing on the right but now, the refugee crisis has magnified that frustration. Alarmingly Spiegel reports that increasingly, people from the very center of society are identifying with the movement. The grim conclusion is that as the political debate coarsens, violence increases.

Source: Refugee Crisis Drives Rise of New Right Wing in Germany – SPIEGEL ONLINE

The in depth story is deeply worrying. Comparisons to the US presidential election are alarming too. Germany does not need it’s own Donald Trump or Marine Le Pen, ahead of the next national election.

Perhaps, Angela Merkel, like Margaret Thatcher in her day, has lost touch with popular feeling? There is still room for Germany’s mainstream political parties to prevail.

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