Part 5: Can Liberal Democracy Survive in Europe?

Jun 14, 2019

Across Europe, populists are saying that it’s not democracy they aim to discard, but liberalism. To end our series, we returned to Germany, the country at the heart of a liberal Europe, to see if the rejection of liberalism had also taken hold there.

Guests: Katrin Bennhold, the Berlin bureau chief for The New York Times, and Clare Toeniskoetter and Lynsea Garrison, producers for “The Daily,” went to an election party in Berlin for the far-right party Alternative for Germany. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Germany’s political establishment looks increasingly fragile after the European Parliament elections.
• As anti-Semitic crime rises in Germany, new forms of old hatreds are stoking fear for the nation’s estimated 200,000 Jews.
• Katrin Bennhold offers her main takeaway after 10 days on the road: “Europe cannot be taken for granted. But neither can its demise.”

Play Episode