Sixteen-year-olds in this nation cast their ballots for the first time, and the outcome is alarming.
Studies reveal that young adults (usually aged 18 to 24) in democratic nations on both sides of the Atlantic tend to vote for more reform-oriented, left-leaning parties rather than those on the right. This explains why European conservatives were opposed to granting 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote - even though older teenagers are permitted to work, drive, and pay federal income taxes.
In the 2019 European Parliamentary elections, the youngest voters showed up in large numbers, expressing their concerns about climate change in what observers called a "Green wave." In Germany, a third of the young population voted for the Greens.
Fast forward to the current European Parliamentary election, which just concluded on Sunday. In this election, Germans as young as 16 were eligible to vote for the first time since the age was lowered from 18. Additionally, in Austria, Belgium, Malta, and Greece, 16 and 17-year-olds had the right to cast their ballots on issues that will affect them for years, if not decades.
The surprising development? Many first-time German voters chose to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. In this election, 16% of 16-24-year-olds voted AfD - an increase of 11% from five years ago. Although the majority of young people didn't vote for the far right, the surge in the number who did is cause for concern.
The AfD, known for repeating banned Nazi slogans and promoting racism and Islamophobia, attracted a significant number of teenage voters. Their tally was almost as high as the winning Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) alliance and much higher than the Greens.
Exit polls show that migration was a primary concern for voters - including those under 24. 95% of AfD voters believed Germany should limit immigration and refugees. An even larger percentage didn't mind if the AfD was considered an extreme right-wing party as long as it addressed the most pressing issues.
However, these extremist views are alarming, considering that the AfD has never disavowed its radical credentials. Just before the election, on May 20, the party's lead candidate, Maximilian Krah, claimed that members of the notorious Nazi paramilitary troops, the SS, weren't inherently criminal. (The SS played a crucial role in the Holocaust and in suppressing domestic opposition to the Nazi dictatorship.)
Krah was removed from the campaign trail and barred from serving as an EU parliamentarian after the party expelled him from its ranks for making these insensitive remarks.
Germany's intelligence service is conducting surveillance on the AfD due to the threat it poses to democracy. The agency may recommend a complete ban from politics. And a recent investigation found that 28 AfD members in the German legislature had been convicted of violence-related crimes, including verbal violence and incitement to hatred.
These extreme views and shocking history, along with the party's scandals, are not the kind of credentials you'd expect to appeal to the youngest generation of German voters.
However, this sudden shift in attitude among Europe's young people - particularly Germans, who learn about the horrors of the Nazi dictatorship in school - is disturbing. It's far too early to conclude, as the BBC suggests, that "the image of the radical-right voter – typically white, male, non-graduate, and, above all, old" has significantly changed permanently.
A matter of concern is the COVID-19 pandemic and social media, particularly TikTok, which the far-right has exploited.
This latest trend among European youths is troubling. While it's too early to make any long-term predictions, the situation calls for careful monitoring and vigilance.
Youth can often be impulsive, emotional, and struggling to navigate life's challenges. It's not surprising that they're upset about the slow economic recovery, the COVID-19 pandemic that disproportionately affected them, and the simultaneous occurrence of other global crises.
To channel their frustrations positively, they should avoid supporting dangerous parties. These groups don't have any real solutions to the problems they're facing, but their rebellion could hinder the democratic process from addressing its own flaws.
Casting a protest vote for a risky group could lead to disastrous consequences, including a future that is even more terrifying than what these young people are trying to avoid.
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Despite the increasing concerns about climate change and the "Green wave" among young voters, some 16-year-old Germans expressed their opinions differently in the recent European Parliamentary election. Contrary to expectations, a notable number of first-time voters chose to align with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has a history of promoting extreme views and scandals.
