Christian Streich is known for taking a political stand. Now the Freiburg coach is once again clearly positioning himself against the AfD.
Christian Streich has once again warned of a shift to the right in Germany. “Now the agitators are coming and they are trying to find a platform to gain power,” said the coach of Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in an RTL interview. These would polarize and portray everything negatively, “with the worst possible accusations.” Now we have to fight to ensure that parties like the AfD do not come into government, said the 58-year-old.
“Otherwise the dikes could break and then it will collapse on us.” Almost a month ago, in the course of the Germany-wide protests against right-wing extremism, Streich called for people to take a clear position.
Streich calls Putin a “dictator”
Streich, who studied second-chance history after attending secondary school, sees a special responsibility in raising his voice. He read a lot about the emergence of National Socialism in Germany and also spoke about it with contemporary witnesses. That’s why he has to say something, “because I know how things work, how totalitarian systems work and how they come about. And that’s why I have to pass that on.”
Of course there are many people who have problems, said the football coach, citing rising food prices as an example. “But maybe you should think about why. Why the energy costs so much.” This is not due to the politicians in Germany, but rather to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war of aggression against Ukraine. Putin, whom Streich called a “dictator,” is responsible for incredible suffering there.
With regard to Germany, Streich said: “It is sometimes shocking that a quarter or a fifth in our country, and sometimes even more, only beat politicians.” And the people who are really responsible in Russia are sometimes visited by representatives of the AfD and have their sympathies expressed, “which then says it all.”