Armed resistance against a possible right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) government might be needed, according to Jette Nietzard, co-leader of the youth wing of The Greens party in the country.
Her thinly veiled call for violence caused controversy and Nietzard later said she would not stand for re-election.
Nietzard made her original comments on July 21 during Freitag Salon, a podcast by the public broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB).
Regarding a possible government with AfD in it she said: “Would it be intellectual, or perhaps with weapons?
“I don’t want to pigeonhole myself here but I think we as a society should ask ourselves: Are we prepared to hide people again? Are we truly prepared to go somewhere where it matters — to defend a parliament, in the end?”
The journalist interviewing her, Jakob Augstein, asked if she would go against the will of the voters, to which she replied in the affirmative because, she said, it would be “against fascism”.
Later, she went on to tell the weekly newspaper der Freitag: “I truly wonder whether we’re currently missing a moment that, in hindsight, we’ll say: We should have intervened more forcefully.
“How prepared is our civil society, how prepared are our political parties for the possibility that, in 2029, a party that is firmly far-right could govern in Germany?
“What would that actually mean? Would other parties continue to sit in the Bundestag and try to engage with the AfD on substance? Can I still look into a camera with my arms crossed and say how terrible the far right is?” she queried.
“We need to reflect on that – and also on what resistance could look like in such a scenario. Would it be purely intellectual? Or would we have to take up arms?
“I’m not trying to spread panic. I just want us to ask ourselves: Are we ready?”
Die Vorsitzende der grünen Jugendorganisation beschäftigt sich im ÖRR mit der Option, zu den Waffen zu greifen, sollte die AfD Teil einer Regierung werden. Wenn das kein Fall für den Verfassungsschutz ist, was ist es dann? https://t.co/Y8hickToeY pic.twitter.com/imj4zYzSNq
— Ben Brechtken (@ben_brechtken) July 28, 2025
Nietzard faced backlash over her comments.
As a result, she said she would remain in office as co-chair of the Green Youth wing but would not run again.
She said she would remain a member of The Greens party but was critical of the course it was taking.
Nietzard claimed she was the victim of a right-wing campaign.
“Right-wing media houses simply have a f***ing amount of power,” she claimed and added that The Greens party preferred to fall for the “tone-policing campaigns of some right-wing media houses”.
On Instagram, she said in a video that she had hoped to be a left-wing voice for The Greens.
“My thoughts have not always met with approval from The Greens,” Nietzard said.
“Sometimes I was booed in parliamentary group meetings, sometimes I was yelled at by … top personnel or my resignation was demanded by prime ministers or those who wanted to become one,” she added.
“Honestly, this should not be the everyday life of the Green Youth spokeswoman.
“With constant hostility, good politics simply cannot arise and if the party leadership does not manage to end these hostilities, then I will draw the consequences for my youth association,” Nietzard concluded.
She had already drawn attention in May with an Instagram post showing her in the Bundestag wearing a sweater bearing the slogan “ACAB” (“All Cops Are Bastards”). In response, Baden-Württemberg’s Green Premier Winfried Kretschmann publicly called for her resignation from The Greens party.
She also drew ire when she called the October 7 massacre of Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists “a military operation”.
Social media users hit out at her on New Year’s Eve, when she posted: “Men who lose their hand in firecrackers can at least no longer hit women.” Nietzard later deleted the post.
She has been co-spokesperson for the Green Youth since October 2024.
Germany’s Green Youth, the youth organisation of the Greens party, has demanded that the country take more migrants from abroad. https://t.co/swhbid2RQg
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 6, 2025
