BSW: program for the 2025 federal election

The BSW wants Germany to stay out of economic sanctions that, in the program's view, the United States pursues in its own interest. Trade agreements should secure supplies, export markets and standards rather than serve corporate interests. Regional economic cycles should be strengthened.

The BSW wants trade with many countries. Germany should not join US sanctions. Sanctions are trade penalties against a country. More key goods should come from Germany.

The BSW wants an active state industrial policy and wants to raise spending on research and development to at least four percent of economic output by 2030. An industrial fund is to invest in future sectors, key industries and start-ups. In the party's view, the state bears risks that private investors avoid.

The BSW wants to spend more money on research. The state should protect and rebuild key industries. A new fund should invest in young companies. A fund is a large pool of money.

The BSW wants to turn large state-supported companies in key industries into foundation-owned companies and expand worker co-determination there. For mid-sized firms, a new legal form, the company with tied assets, is to be created. Profits would then stay in the company rather than flow to shareholders.

Some big companies get money from the state. The BSW wants to turn them into foundation-owned companies. Then the profit stays in the company. Mid-sized firms should get a new legal form.

The BSW wants corporations to be taxed as heavily in Germany as mid-sized businesses and wants to stop profit shifting abroad. The Federal Cartel Office should get more resources and powers to limit market power. Smaller companies should be relieved of red tape.

Big corporations often pay less tax than small firms. The BSW wants to change that. The cartel office should become stronger. The cartel office checks whether companies are too powerful. Small firms should have less paperwork.

The BSW wants to cut rules, requirements and procedures for businesses, which it sees as a lever for growth and innovation. Mandatory sustainability reporting would be suspended immediately and the supply chain law reformed. EU rules should not be implemented more strictly than required.

The BSW wants less red tape for companies. Companies should no longer have to write sustainability reports. The supply chain law should change. EU rules should not become even stricter in Germany.

The BSW wants to strengthen consumer protection because, in its view, large companies dictate prices and terms. It plans strict rules for the SCHUFA credit agency, clear food labeling and a ban on electricity and gas shutoffs.

The BSW wants to protect customers better. The SCHUFA should get strict rules. The SCHUFA collects data about debts. Food labels should clearly say what is inside. Nobody should have their power or gas cut off.

The BSW wants to reform the procedure used to determine whether someone is self-employed or an employee. Clients should again be able to hire self-employed people without legal risk. At the same time, everyone who works, including the self-employed, should pay into the social insurance systems.

Companies and schools should be able to hire freelancers safely. The BSW wants to change the checking rules for this. All working people should pay into social insurance. That would include the self-employed too.

The BSW wants to raise the minimum wage to 15 euros immediately and keep it permanently above the poverty line. Minijobs would be converted into regular jobs with social insurance, and fixed-term contracts without objective reason would end. The party cites wage dumping and workers' lack of planning security.

The BSW wants a minimum wage of 15 euros an hour. It should apply right away. Minijobs should become normal jobs with social insurance. The BSW rejects temporary contracts without a reason.

The BSW wants far more workers covered by collective agreements. Public contracts and subsidies would go only to companies that pay union-scale wages. Works councils should be easier to set up and get more say.

The BSW wants more collective wage agreements. The state should give contracts only to firms paying those wages. Works councils should be easier to start. Workers should have more say.

The BSW wants to replace Bürgergeld (citizen's income) with expanded unemployment insurance and a basic benefit. Long-term contributors would get 60 percent of their last net pay until a suitable job is found. Benefit abuse would be checked more closely.

The BSW wants to replace Bürgergeld (citizen's income). People who worked for a long time should get unemployment pay longer. That is 60 percent of their last net pay. People who refuse training without good reason face consequences.

The BSW calls for a tiered minimum pension of up to 1,500 euros and a rebuild of pension insurance along Austrian lines. Everyone in work would pay in, including members of parliament and ministers. To offset inflation, all pensions would first rise by 120 euros a month.

The BSW wants a minimum pension. After 40 years it is 1,500 euros. Everyone should pay into the pension fund, including politicians. All pensions should first go up by 120 euros a month.

The BSW rejects a higher retirement age and wants a pension without deductions at 63 after 45 contribution years. The pay-as-you-go pension would be strengthened. The party rejects subsidies for private plans and investing pension money in the stock market.

The BSW does not want a higher retirement age. After 45 working years, people should be able to retire at 63. There are no deductions then. Pension money should not go into stocks.

The BSW wants to change the debt brake so that infrastructure investment is no longer covered by it. A large investment program is to clear the repair backlog. In the program's view, the debt brake has blocked investment without preventing unsound budgets.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The BSW wants to change it. The state should be allowed to borrow for bridges, schools and rail. A big program should fix run-down structures.

The BSW wants tax relief for gross incomes up to 7,500 euros and wants very high incomes to contribute more. The basic tax-free allowance should rise considerably, and an allowance should also apply to social contributions. The program argues that work must pay off for the majority.

The BSW wants lower taxes for low and middle incomes. A larger part of wages should be tax-free. Pensions up to 2,000 euros a month should be tax-free. People with very high incomes should pay more.

The BSW wants to tax capital income at the personal income tax rate instead of a flat 25 percent. It also wants a tax on share buybacks and a financial transaction tax. The program sees labor as disadvantaged relative to capital under current tax law.

Gains from investments are taxed less than wages today. The BSW wants to tax both the same. Trading in securities should also be taxed. Companies should pay tax when they buy back their own shares.

The BSW wants to remove tax advantages for real estate investors while exempting families from the property transfer tax on their first owner-occupied home. On the property tax, the party calls for a halt to additional burdens for ordinary homeowners and renters.

Families should pay no transfer tax on their first own home. This tax is due when you buy a house or land. Big investors should no longer be able to use tax tricks. The property tax should not rise further.

The BSW wants to levy the wealth tax again on assets of 25 million euros or more, at rates of one to three percent. Under the inheritance tax, all assets above the allowances should be taxed equally. The program criticizes that very large inheritances currently face a lower effective rate than smaller ones.

Very rich people should pay a wealth tax. It would apply from 25 million euros in assets. Large inheritances should be taxed the same as smaller ones. Today, heirs of big companies often pay less.

The BSW wants to cut value-added tax on staple foods to zero and rejects a meat tax. A price watchdog and tougher antitrust law are meant to counter the market power of food corporations and retail chains.

There should be no more sales tax on important foods. For example on meat, milk, fruit and vegetables. An office should check prices. Companies that are too powerful could be broken up.

The BSW wants to secure cash as a means of payment and loosen existing restrictions. The party bases this on protecting privacy, because only cash payments leave no data trail.

The BSW wants cash to stay. Public offices should have to accept cash. With cash, you can buy things without leaving data behind. Rules that limit cash should be relaxed.

The BSW wants to strengthen nonprofit housing construction and provide municipal housing companies with public money. Social housing is to stay rent-restricted permanently; the platform cites Vienna as a model.

The BSW wants more affordable homes to be built. Cities and nonprofit companies should get cheap loans for this. Social housing should stay affordable forever. Building should go faster.

The BSW wants to replace the Mietpreisbremse (rent brake) with a nationwide rent cap. In regions where housing is unaffordable on a normal income, rents are not to rise until the end of the decade.

The BSW wants a rent cap for all of Germany. That is a fixed limit on rents. In expensive areas, rents should not rise until 2030. Landlords should pay for renovations themselves.

The BSW calls for a mandatory language test for children from age three. For those with gaps in German, daycare attendance would be compulsory and free. Daycare fees should stay stable or fall and be eliminated in the medium term.

The BSW wants a German test for children from age three. Children with too little German must then go to daycare. Parents pay nothing for that. Later, daycare should be free for everyone.

The BSW wants to offer all children in daycare centers and schools a free, healthy lunch. This is meant to ease the burden on families and make healthy eating independent of parents' income.

All children should get lunch at daycare and school. The food should be healthy and cost nothing. This helps families with little money. Children should also learn about food and nutrition.

The BSW wants the state to treat all children equally in financial terms. The relief from the child tax allowance should be no higher than Kindergeld (child benefit). According to the platform, family policy should focus on low and middle earners.

Parents get money from the state for their children. Rich parents often save more through taxes than others get in child benefit. The BSW wants to change that. Every child should be worth the same to the state.

The BSW wants enough daycare and all-day school places everywhere, plus free state-run childcare during school vacations. This is meant to make work and family easier to combine, especially for women and single parents.

The BSW wants more places in daycare and all-day schools. During school vacations, the state should look after children for free. Then parents can go to work more easily. This helps women and single parents most.

The BSW wants to end the ban on federal-state cooperation in education and introduce a nationwide education framework law. All-day schools and after-school care would be expanded, and children would learn together for longer. Educational opportunity should not depend on family background.

The BSW wants the federal government and states to work together on schools. A law should create the same rules for all states. There should be more all-day schools. Children should learn together for longer.

The BSW wants to keep phones and tablets out of class at least through elementary school. A social media law modeled on Australia's is meant to protect children. The federal government would pay for every child's first year in a sports club.

The BSW wants no phones and tablets in elementary school. A law should protect children from social media. Australia has such a law. The federal government should pay for the first year in a sports club.

The BSW wants to guarantee every young person a vocational training place and to raise the standing of vocational education. A vocational training pact is meant to modernize vocational schools.

The BSW wants every young person to get a training place. Vocational schools should become more modern. Schools should prepare students better for work. Skilled trades should get more respect.

The BSW rejects appearances by the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) in schools and wants more peace education, civic education and democracy education instead. Universities and research institutions are to adopt civil clauses.

The BSW wants no army advertising in schools. Students should learn more about peace and democracy. Companies should not advertise in schools either. Universities should do research only for civilian purposes.

The BSW wants support teams to take non-teaching tasks off teachers' hands. In addition, more teachers and childcare workers are to be trained, and teacher training is to become more practical.

Teachers should be able to focus on teaching. Other experts should take over some tasks. For example social workers and IT staff. There should also be more teachers and childcare workers.

The BSW wants the federal government to share in the basic funding and construction of universities. It also calls for a BAföG (student aid) reform, an end to chains of fixed-term contracts and protection of academic freedom.

The federal government should give universities more money. Students should get enough BAföG. BAföG is state money for studying. University staff should get permanent jobs. They should be able to speak their minds freely.

The BSW wants an investment program to renovate and expand local facilities for children, young people and families. It justifies this with a long-standing backlog in repairs and investment.

The BSW wants to spend a lot of money on children and education. The money should go to cities and towns. Many buildings for children there are old or broken. Poor areas should get money first.

The BSW wants a single citizens' health insurance into which everyone pays according to income and which gives everyone essentially the same benefits. Health insurers' additional contributions are to be dropped, ending what the party sees as two-tier medicine.

The BSW wants one health insurance for everyone. Everyone pays according to their income. Everyone gets the same care. The extra charges from health insurers should go away.

The BSW rejects hospital closures and the current hospital reform. It wants to end the separation between outpatient, inpatient and nursing care, strengthen municipalities and push back privatization.

The BSW does not want hospitals to close. It rejects the current hospital reform. Doctors' offices, hospitals and nursing care should work together better. There should be more doctors and nurses.

The BSW wants statutory health insurance to fully cover necessary dentures and vision aids again. According to the platform, healthy teeth should not depend on income.

Health insurance should pay fully for needed dentures. It should also pay fully for glasses. Today many people pay for these themselves. The BSW wants to change that.

The BSW calls for full long-term care insurance paid mostly from taxes. This is meant to sharply reduce the out-of-pocket costs of nursing home residents.

The BSW wants care insurance that covers all costs. The state should pay for it mainly from taxes. People in nursing homes should pay much less themselves. Care should not make anyone poor.

The BSW wants to raise the Pflegegeld (care allowance) for people caring for relatives substantially. It should be aligned with the pay of professional caregivers, because the platform regards caring for relatives as work.

Many people care for family members at home. They get a care allowance for this. The BSW says this money is far too low. It should be as high as the pay of professional caregivers.

The BSW calls for a Bundestag committee of inquiry into the COVID period and an amnesty law that ends pending proceedings and refunds fines. Vaccine injuries should be easier to have recognized and compensated. The party argues that the state, in its view, arbitrarily restricted basic freedoms.

The BSW wants COVID policy to be reviewed. A committee in parliament should do this. People who paid fines for breaking COVID rules should get their money back. People harmed by vaccines should get help and compensation more easily.

The BSW wants to remove the powers of intervention added to the Infection Protection Act during the COVID period. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) should be reformed and made independent, and civil servants should be able to report problems without suffering for it.

The Infection Protection Act says what the state may do during epidemics. The BSW wants to remove strict COVID rules from that law. The Robert Koch Institute should be independent of politics. Civil servants should be able to point out mistakes without harm to their careers.

The BSW demands that Germany not agree to a pandemic treaty that gives the World Health Organization additional powers. It also wants the WHO's conduct during the COVID period to be examined.

The WHO is the health agency of the United Nations. A new treaty would give it more rights during pandemics. The BSW wants Germany to say no to this. The party also wants a review of what the WHO did during COVID.

The BSW wants people who enter Germany through a safe third country to have no right to stay, no asylum procedure and no social benefits. The party wants to keep the constitutional right to asylum for those in need of protection but says Germany needs a "breather."

Many refugees come to Germany through safe countries. The BSW says these people may not stay. They should not get an asylum procedure. They should not get money from the state either.

The BSW wants refugees who commit serious crimes to lose their claim to an asylum procedure and be deported, if necessary after amending the constitution. Deportations should be carried out consistently, and asylum procedures should normally end within three months.

Refugees who commit serious crimes should leave Germany. The BSW wants to change laws for this, even the constitution if needed. People with no right to stay should leave quickly. Asylum procedures should usually take only three months.

The BSW wants refugees with protection status to get into work faster and plans to expand language learning and adult education for this. On deportations, authorities should focus on people who are not integrated rather than on well-integrated immigrants.

Refugees with protection should be able to work sooner. For this they should learn German and be able to catch up on diplomas. Well-integrated people should not be deported first. Authorities should focus on the others.

The BSW wants to reform European asylum law and move asylum procedures to safe countries outside the EU where possible. The party wants to withdraw from the Global Compact for Migration as quickly as possible. In the platform's view, the current system feeds smugglers.

The BSW wants new asylum rules in Europe. Asylum procedures should take place outside the EU where possible. The BSW wants to leave the Global Compact for Migration. That is an agreement among many countries on migration.

The BSW wants targeted support for East Germans, at least in the public service, academia and culture. It justifies this with lower wages in the east and the low share of East Germans in leadership positions.

The BSW wants special support for people from eastern Germany. This applies to government offices, science and culture. Wages in the east are often lower. Few East Germans hold top jobs.

The BSW wants to expand protection and support services for women affected by violence and create many more places in women's shelters and safe housing. The federal government should fund shelters permanently, and staying there should be free for women.

Many women experience violence. There are too few places in women's shelters. The BSW wants to create many more places. The federal government should pay for the shelters. Women should not have to pay to stay there.

The BSW wants abortion in the first twelve weeks to be generally exempt from punishment. In addition, public health insurers should pay for prescription contraceptives for women and girls. The reasoning is the right to decide about one's own body.

Women should decide about their own bodies. Abortion should not be a crime up to the 12th week. Prescription birth control should be free for women and girls. Health insurance should pay for it.

The BSW rejects the Selbstbestimmungsgesetz (Self-Determination Act) because, in the platform's view, it undermines protections for women. Changing one's gender should only be possible with a medical report. In women's sports, biological sex should apply.

Today, people can change their legal gender themselves at a public office. The BSW is against this law. It wants a doctor to write a report first. The BSW says the law puts safe spaces for women at risk.

The BSW wants the federal government to negotiate with Russia about gas deliveries through the remaining intact Nord Stream line. Energy imports should again be based on long-term contracts awarded according to the lowest price.

The BSW wants to buy gas from Russia again. The government should talk to Russia about this. The gas should come through the Nord Stream pipeline. Germany should buy energy where it is cheapest.

The BSW wants to repeal the heating law and the ban on new combustion engine cars, and to keep the gas grid. The program cites high costs for homeowners and renters and a lack of affordable alternatives. The party considers the goal of quickly reaching full climate neutrality unrealistic.

The BSW wants to scrap the heating law. The ban on new gas and diesel cars should also go. The gas pipes should stay. The party says these rules cost people too much.

The BSW wants to abolish the carbon price. European emissions trading should either be applied worldwide or ended because, in the program's view, a purely European scheme encourages companies to move production abroad.

The BSW wants to end the carbon price. The carbon price makes gasoline, gas and heating oil cost more. The party says many people have no other choice. Europe's trading of carbon permits should end or apply worldwide.

The BSW wants to bring the energy grids under state ownership and pay for their expansion from public funds rather than through electricity prices. Grid fees should fall as far as possible. Storage and reserve power plants should also serve the public interest rather than profit.

The BSW wants the state to own the power grids. The state should pay for building the grids. Then customers should pay less for power. Power storage should not be run for profit either.

The BSW wants to replace old wind turbines with more powerful ones, support solar installations on already built-up areas and expand geothermal energy and district heating. The party rejects new nuclear power plants but wants more research on nuclear fusion. Rather than bans, the program relies on funding and incentives for new technology.

The BSW wants to replace old wind turbines with new ones. Solar panels should go on roofs and parking lots. Heat from the ground should be used more. The party does not want new nuclear plants.

The BSW wants to ban manufacturers from deliberately shortening the lifespan of their products. The expected lifespan of technical devices should be labeled, and repairs should become cheaper. The program views short-lived products as a burden on the environment and the climate.

Some devices are built to break quickly. The BSW wants to ban that. Makers should say how long a device will last. Repairs should cost less.

The BSW wants to end animal suffering in barns and slaughterhouses and limit transports of live animals to four hours at most. Animal testing should drop to a minimum. The party rejects genetic engineering in agriculture and patents on life.

The BSW wants to protect animals better. Live animals should travel four hours at most. There should be far fewer animal tests. The BSW rejects genetic engineering on farms.

The BSW wants farm policy to be more national and regional in focus and to protect domestic producers from cheap imports. Farmers should get stable prices, for example through statutory minimum producer prices. The party rejects the Mercosur agreement.

The BSW wants to protect farmers in Germany. Cheap food from abroad should not push them out. Farmers could get fixed minimum prices. The BSW rejects the trade deal with South America.

The BSW wants environmental requirements to be set only together with farmers and with transition periods. Farmland should take priority and not be displaced by solar installations. An insurance scheme co-funded by the federal government would help against extreme weather.

The BSW wants to make environmental rules together with farmers. Farmers should get time to adapt. Fields should stay fields. The federal government should help pay for insurance against weather damage.

The BSW wants to reverse the phase-out of new combustion engine cars and support a range of drive technologies instead of electric mobility alone. Driving is not to become more expensive, because many people depend on their cars.

The BSW wants to lift the ban on combustion engine cars. These are cars that run on gasoline or diesel. Driving should not get more expensive. The state should support different engines, not only electric cars.

The BSW proposes state-subsidized leasing for environmentally friendly cars made in Europe, including fuel-efficient combustion models. It is meant to keep low- and middle-income people mobile in regions with little public transit and to support the car industry.

The BSW wants cheap car leasing with help from the state. Leasing means renting a car for a longer time. It applies to fuel-saving cars made in Europe. Only people with low or normal incomes can get it.

The BSW wants to repair and expand roads, bridges and other transport routes with a large investment program. It is to be paid for through a reform of the debt brake.

The BSW wants to repair broken roads and bridges. New roads should be built where they are needed. For this the state should be allowed to borrow more. The rule on this is called the debt brake.

The BSW wants the railway to focus on domestic local, long-distance and freight service and to become a reliable "Bundesbahn" (federal railway) again. Bus and rail are to get cheaper, and the Deutschlandticket is to stay affordable for good.

Trains should be on time and reliable again. The railway should be a public company. Buses and trains should cost less. The Deutschlandticket should stay. More goods should travel by train.

The BSW wants a single online portal for all government services where citizens and companies enter their data only once. At the same time, the party rejects digital mandates that add burdens for small businesses and the self-employed.

The BSW wants one website for all government offices. People enter their data there only once. But small firms should not be forced to use digital procedures.

The BSW rejects blanket data retention by the state and wants to ban the collection and storage of individual behavioral data. Encryption should remain freely usable and online tracking should be curbed. The party says this is meant to prevent total surveillance of citizens.

Companies and the state collect a lot of data about people. The BSW wants to ban collecting data on how people behave. The state should not read private messages. Everyone should be allowed to encrypt their data. Encrypting means only the receiver can read a message.

The BSW wants to promote open-source software and freely available AI models and help public agencies switch to them. This is meant to reduce dependence on large US tech companies and save money in the long run.

Open-source software is software whose code anyone may look at. The BSW wants to support this kind of software. Public offices should use it instead of programs from big US companies. This should save money and protect data.

The BSW wants a legal guarantee that people without a smartphone, computer or internet access can take part in public life. In the party's view, they should be neither excluded nor disadvantaged.

Some people have no smartphone and no internet. The BSW wants to protect them. They should still be able to take trains and get appointments. A law should secure this right.

The BSW wants more staff and better equipment for the police so they are visible in public spaces and can prosecute crimes. Security tasks should not be privatized. Especially intrusive powers should remain limited to the most serious crimes.

The BSW wants more police officers and better equipment. Police should be visible on streets and squares. Private companies should not take over police tasks. Strong surveillance should only be used for very serious crimes.

The BSW wants to abolish the special criminal offense of insulting politicians that was introduced in 2021. Politicians must face citizens' criticism, it argues, and police and prosecutors should be relieved of such cases.

Today, people who insult politicians can get a special punishment. The BSW wants to remove this rule. Politicians should put up with criticism. The police should deal with more important things.

The BSW wants to abolish the monitoring category "delegitimization of the state" at the Verfassungsschutz (domestic intelligence agency). The agency should not protect the government or damage fundamental rights. Parliament should oversee it effectively.

The Verfassungsschutz is a domestic intelligence agency. It also watches people who talk down the state. The BSW wants to end this task. Parliament should check the agency closely.

The BSW wants a cabinet made up of subject experts rather than party politicians. It notes that the constitution does not require government members to have risen through a party. The aim is to restore trust in the state and in democracy.

The BSW wants experts in the government. Ministers do not have to come from a party. The constitution does not require that. People should trust the state again.

The BSW wants the state to guarantee basic services everywhere and to run areas such as health, housing, energy and water for the common good. Municipalities should get more money of their own and a solution for their legacy debts. Public administration should become more accessible and efficient.

The state should make sure basic services exist everywhere. This includes buses, doctors, shops and fast internet. Cities and towns should get more money of their own. They should decide for themselves how to spend it.

The BSW wants to cut positions in federal ministries and shift staff to where citizens and businesses need service. The ministries' special commissioners would be abolished. Twice a year, agencies would weed out unnecessary rules.

The BSW wants fewer jobs in the ministries. There should be more staff in offices that serve people. The special commissioners in ministries should go. Twice a year, offices should throw out old rules.

The BSW wants to add substantially more staff to the justice system and reduce the number of cases. The platform justifies this with overload and overly long proceedings.

Courts and prosecutors have too few staff. Cases therefore take a very long time. The BSW wants to hire many more people. It also wants fewer cases.

The BSW wants to stop public money going to projects and organizations that, in its view, are meant to steer public debate in a political direction. The party rejects a Demokratiefördergesetz (democracy promotion act). It also wants to end any cooperation between the state and the media aimed at influencing opinion.

The state gives money to some groups and projects. The BSW says these groups push certain political opinions. The BSW wants to stop these payments. It does not want a law that funds such groups for the long term.

The BSW wants to abolish state-funded offices where people can report statements, and it opposes the state systematically recording expressions of opinion. The limits of free speech should not be shifted through vague terms, and criminal law should not be expanded at its expense.

There are offices where people can report what others have said. The state pays for many of them. The BSW wants to close them. The state should not collect and study opinions. Legal opinions should stay legal.

The BSW wants public prosecutors to no longer be subject to instructions from politicians. The party sees prosecutors as currently exposed to political influence.

Public prosecutors investigate crimes. Today, ministers can give them orders. The BSW wants to change that. Prosecutors should work independently of politics.

The BSW wants to amend the Basic Law so that citizens can vote directly on important questions nationwide. Through citizens' initiatives, they should also be able to force binding votes on laws themselves.

The BSW wants referendums for all of Germany. Then citizens vote on important questions themselves. For this, the constitution has to be changed. Citizens should also be able to demand a vote on a law.

The BSW wants to push back corporate influence on laws and government action. Former politicians should be allowed to move into industries they dealt with only after at least five years, and private organizations should no longer share in decisions on regulatory bodies.

Companies try to influence laws. This is called lobbying. The BSW wants stricter rules against it. Politicians should wait five years after leaving office. Only then may they work in an industry they dealt with before.

The BSW wants to hand powers back from the EU to the member states and rejects a European federal state. The EU should confine itself to core tasks that individual countries can hardly handle alone, and should mediate for peace rather than become a party to war.

The BSW wants less power for the EU. Countries should decide more for themselves. The EU should have only a few key tasks. For example, it should fight tax havens. The EU should work for peace.

The BSW wants the EU to admit no further countries, Ukraine included. The party justifies this with the costs that Ukrainian membership would mean for German taxpayers.

The BSW wants no new countries in the EU. That goes for Ukraine too. The party says Ukraine joining would cost Germany a lot.

The BSW wants German foreign policy to focus on détente, balancing interests and international cooperation, invoking Willy Brandt. Conflicts should be settled through negotiation under the UN Charter, not with weapons.

The BSW wants a foreign policy for peace. Countries should talk to each other. Weapons should not settle conflicts. Germany should mediate between countries.

The BSW wants a purely defensive alliance aimed at disarmament in place of NATO in its current form. Europe should get a security order that in the longer run also includes Russia.

The BSW criticizes NATO. NATO is a military alliance. The BSW wants an alliance only for defense. Later, Europe should also work with Russia on security.

The BSW calls for disarmament, new arms control treaties and a ban on exporting weapons to war zones. Arms companies would no longer be allowed to pay out their profits to shareholders.

The BSW wants fewer weapons in the world. Germany should not sell weapons to war zones. Countries should sign deals to cut weapons. Arms companies should not pay their profits to shareholders.

The BSW wants Germany to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and have the nuclear weapons stored in the country removed. According to the platform, a nuclear conflict would leave large parts of Europe, and Germany above all, uninhabitable.

The BSW wants a world without nuclear weapons. Germany should sign a treaty against nuclear weapons. The US nuclear weapons should leave Germany. The BSW fears a nuclear war in Europe.

The BSW rejects the planned stationing of US intermediate-range missiles in Germany. In the party's view these weapons do not protect the country but make it a target for Russian missiles and raise the nuclear risk.

The US wants to put new missiles in Germany. The BSW is against this. The party says the missiles make Germany a target for Russia. That is dangerous.

The BSW wants the Bundeswehr to focus solely on defending the country and to be adequately equipped for that. The party rejects deployments in international wars and stationing troops on Russia's border or in the South China Sea.

The Bundeswehr should only defend Germany. It should be well equipped for that. German soldiers should not go to foreign wars. They should not be at the border with Russia either.

The BSW rejects rising military spending, NATO's two percent target and new special funds for the Bundeswehr. Instead, procurement should become more transparent, and arms companies should be liable for cost overruns and delays.

The BSW does not want to spend more on the military. NATO asks for two percent of economic output for defense. The BSW rejects that goal. Arms companies should pay when projects cost more.

The BSW opposes a new military draft. Young people should be free to choose during the period when they are finding their career path, and that voluntary principle must not be suspended for the sake of rearmament.

The BSW does not want a draft. A draft means young people must join the military. Young people should choose their own path. Germany should be peaceful, not ready for war.

The BSW calls for a ceasefire without preconditions and negotiations on a peace plan for Ukraine. The party rejects delivering Taurus cruise missiles and wants no further German taxpayer money made available for the war.

The BSW wants the war in Ukraine to end fast. The fighting should stop right away. Then both sides should talk. Germany should not send Taurus missiles. Germany should give no more money for the war.

The BSW demands an immediate end to weapons deliveries to Israel, along with a ceasefire and negotiations on a two-state solution. The party condemns the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, but considers the Netanyahu government's conduct in Gaza unjustified.

The BSW wants no more German weapons for Israel. The fighting in the Middle East should stop now. Israel and the Palestinians should hold talks. In the end there should be two states.

The BSW wants to reduce the causes of flight in countries of origin. To that end, military aid to warring parties should end, economic sanctions should be lifted and EU foreign and trade policy should be realigned. It argues this helps more people than taking in a few in Germany.

The BSW wants fewer people to have to flee. Germany should stop giving military support to parties at war. Sanctions against other countries should end. Sanctions are trade penalties. Aid groups should get more money.

The BSW wants to keep public broadcasting but restructure it and renegotiate the Medienstaatsvertrag (interstate media treaty). The license fee should not rise, top salaries should fall, and oversight should be kept at a distance from political parties. According to the platform, the aim is to win back lost trust.

The public broadcasters ARD and ZDF should stay. But the BSW wants to change them a lot. The broadcasting fee should not go up. The heads of the broadcasters should earn less. Political parties should have less influence on them.

The BSW wants to declare art, culture and cultural education mandatory tasks of the state and to anchor the protection of culture in the Basic Law. Freelance artists should get better social protection, and the Künstlersozialkasse (artists' social insurance fund) should be kept and reformed.

The BSW wants the state to be required to support art and culture. This should also be written into the constitution. Artists without a steady job should be better protected. The artists' social insurance fund should stay and be improved.