AGI Profiles: Jörg Urban

Katie Hausman

Halle Foundation/AGI Intern

Katie Hausman is a Halle Foundation/AGI Intern in summer 2024. She is a recent graduate from American University’ School of International Service where she received a BA in International Studies and minors in Environmental Science and German Language. Having studied European governance and environmental sustainability, she is excited to apply her interests to policy work in the transatlantic relationship between the United States and Germany. After her internship at AGI, Ms. Hausman will be a U.S. Teaching Assistant through Fulbright Austria for the upcoming school year. She is excited to interact with students abroad and practice the German language, even if it may be an Austrian dialect!

Member of the Saxon State Parliament and Chair of AfD Saxony

Born in 1964, Jörg Urban is the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Saxony. A member of the Landtag of the Free State of Saxony since 2014, Urban has been infamous for his right-wing anti-constitutional efforts.

Background

Jörg Urban grew up in Meissen, East Germany. Completing three years of voluntary military service with the National People’s Army before attending the Technical University of Dresden, Urban was the managing director of the Green League of Saxony. In 2013, he ran for the City Council of Dresden as a member of the AfD and until November 2014, he was chairman of the AfD district association in Dresden. Elected to the Landtag of Saxony in 2014, he later became leader of the AfD party and parliamentary group in Saxony in 2017. When the AfD became the second-largest party in the Saxony Landtag in 2019, Urban became Leader of the Opposition.

Before his dive into politics, Urban used his hydraulic engineering degree as a soil surveyor and freelance civil engineer. During this time, he voiced his concerns about the construction of the Waldschlösschen Bridge in Dresden. The construction of the bridge over the Dresden Elbe Valley cost the site its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. In another case, reports indicate that Urban helped found a photovoltaic system company in the 2000s, which would aid the energy transition, a topic the AfD has subsequently spoken against. Urban has denied his involvement in this company From 2004 to 2014, he was the director of the “Green League,” a network of ecological movements with roots in the peace and green movements in the former German Democratic Republic. His sudden departure from the Green League after joining the AfD was met with shock from their Federal Chairman René Schuster because Urban had not expressed radical-right views during his time in the League. Schuster immediately stated that the league “” between it and Urban. Nowadays, he is a part-time farmer and freelance project manager in nature and landscape conservation. Urban cites his experience in the Green League and other environmental campaigns as the moment he “came in contact with democracy—and its deficits.” His background in environmental issues lends to his current position as the Environmental Policy Spokesman in the AfD.

At multiple points throughout his career, he voiced that he would like to work with other radical groups in Germany. When he was elected state chairman, he announced his interest in working with the Islamophobic and racist “Pegida” (Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West) movement, and the leader of Pegida, Lutz Bachmann, congratulated him in person. In August 2018 at the “silent march” of the AfD in Chemnitz, Urban stood next to other extreme-right AfD leaders Björn Höcke and Andreas Kalbitz, along with members of Pegida. The march was spurred by the stabbing of a local man, allegedly by immigrants from Iraq and Syria. When confronted with questions about the AfD’s association with neo-Nazi movements, Urban consistently counters with “it is difficult to control everyone” and “one cannot take responsibility for every single demonstrator.”

He is not known as a very memorable or passionate speaker, instead letting his homophobic and Islamophobic sentiments fly under much of the national radar. His presence on Facebook and his blog take center stage for his more extreme statements such as “a people can only preserve its own unity and freedom if it remains largely homogenous.” The founder of AfD, Bernd Lucke, named Urban as a “right-wing extremist” in his open letter to the non-right-wing extremists of the AfD. Lucke stated that the party should “ostracize” him for his rhetoric. The Dresden Regional Court also confirmed his label as a neo-Nazi after he sued a Twitter user who used the label against him.

In December 2023, the AfD regional association in Saxony was classified as a right-wing extremist organization, per the state’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV). Urban pushed back, claiming that this delineation lacked “any factual basis” and had “purely electoral motives” in preparation for state elections in 2024.

NATO & Russia

On Urban’s blog, he claims that the AfD is a peace party, citing center-right Christian Democratic (CDU) and center-left Social Democratic (SPD) support for NATO defenses and involvement in Ukraine. Urban and the AfD publicly admit their friendliness to Russia and view Western tariffs as instigators for Russian aggression and obstacles to peace. He also publicly supports Donald Trump, reiterating Trump’s rhetoric: “whoever votes for Trump is voting for peace.” Trump had considered leaving NATO during his time as president and has worried NATO members with threats of budget cuts and withholding military support. Furthermore, Urban is looking to the leadership of Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, to make peace in Europe. Orbán made a surprise visit to Vladimir Putin in early July 2024, after which Urban praised their discussion and criticized European governments and allies for supplying more weapons to Ukraine. Stating on his website that “I have many friends in Russia… I consider NATO’s aggressive policy… to be extremely dangerous,” it is clear that Urban is sympathetic to Russia, supports pro-Russian politics, and seeks to actively counter NATO policies.

Passing a resolution at the AfD party congress in early July 2024 calling for the end of Russian sanctions and delivery of weapons to Ukraine, the party wishes for disentanglement from the United States and tighter ties with Russia and China. For instance, in 2022, a delegation from the AfD, including Urban, visited the Russian-occupied territories of Eastern Ukraine.

After the NATO summit in Washington, DC, in July 2024, Urban criticized the Multi-Domain Task Force for its planned defense deployment in Germany in 2026. This agreement between the United States and Germany includes Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, SM-6 air defense missiles, and experimental hypersonic strike weapons that would be stationed in Germany. Urban claims that the deployment of these weapons of deterrence is solely imposed by the United States, saying that “whether Germany becomes a target for the Russian army is therefore in the hands of the Americans.” Continuing his “peace party” rhetoric, Urban calls for a withdrawal of American troops and nuclear weapons to create a “partnership on equal terms with the United States.” This stance stands in direct contrast to “deterrence as peace” policies of the German government and NATO.

Immigration

A common theme in Urban’s social media and political talking points is the villainization of immigrants and linking their presence to crime statistics. In an effort to “finally protect our women,” Urban cited a case from May 2024 in which a suspect with “slightly darker skin” raped a 26-year-old woman in Dresden as she was leaving the train. Believing the only solution is the strict rejection of illegal immigrants at the border and the deportation of all foreigners who are required to leave the country, Urban has stereotyped criminals as those who are non-white and have a different country of origin. In another case, Urban discussed the death of a 55-year-old man in Uelzen, Lower Saxony, on July 15, which was caused by an unknown “18-year-old Moroccan” who pushed him down a flight of stairs. Claiming that the AfD will make Germany safe again, Urban supports harsh punishments for migrants and consistent deportations.

Urban was quick to comment on a separate case in which asylum seekers were asked to help clean debris and sandbags from a flooded community. After a flood in late 2023 in neighboring Saxony-Anhalt, the local governor, André Schröder (CDU) stated that migrants should “do work that serves the common good.” He claimed that if they did not comply with the community service request, their social welfare benefits would be reduced. Where the Saxony-Anhalt Refugee Council claims that “it is forced labor,” Schröder claimed he had full authority under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act. Critics of the community service policy believe that it fuels an anti-immigrant sentiment and helps fuel the radicalization of the AfD. Regarding this case, Urban said that “community service is the least that can be expected from foreigners.”

LGBTQ+ Rights

In June of 2023, Urban was a strong proponent of the stolzmonat campaign, which was harnessed by the AfD to spread hatred against the LGBTQ+ community while promoting German nationalism. Where stolzmonat would normally translate into “pride month,” the campaign distorted LGBTQ+ discourse and amplified far-right voices throughout June. Urban posted on X, saying, “#stolzmonat we are proud to be Germans! Germany is the country of great inventors, poets, thinkers and composers. Good reasons to declare June to the ‘Stolzmonat’ as an alternative to the cultureless, globalist ‘Pride month.’” Disempowering LGBTQ+ voices, Urban colonized their rhetoric and weaponized it against them.

Political Violence & Elections

Matthias Ecke, the SPD’s top candidate for the European elections, was attacked and injured while hanging campaign posters in May 2024 in Saxony. The SPD blamed the violence on the AfD and right-wing extremists. In response, Urban wrote on X, “attacks on politicians are always attacks on democracy.” However, his following statement questioned the SPD: “the SPD must ask itself to what extent its constant agitation against political dissidents contributes to such escalations.” Urban’s social media presence aims to reduce the legitimacy of other political parties and further divides the electorate by fostering conspiracy theories and false information.

The AfD hopes to achieve 40 percent of the vote in Saxony in their regional state parliament elections in September 2024. After the AfD became the strongest party in Saxony during the June European Parliament elections with 31.8 percent, they believe that they could become the governing party, rather than the opposition. Polls currently show a close race between the CDU and AfD. As the leader of the AfD in Saxony, Urban is confident that “we can make a breakthrough… we don’t want a piece of the cake, we want the bakery.” Even as Saxony’s domestic intelligence agency identifies the Saxon AfD state association as a far-right extremist movement, they still have a stronghold in the state legislature. Already on election posters, Urban is identified as “our prime minister” and other posters read “So that Saxony does not become like Berlin.” With posters boasting the confidence of the AfD, the party is now relying on AI to answer citizens’ questions. Urban said that “anyone who has questions for the AfD should not have to leaf through the entire program” and the AI program can directly answer concerns based on the party’s basic program from 2019 and 2024.

Conclusion

Jörg Urban represents Saxony; however, he is quite outspoken on issues that have arisen in other German states. He often cites cases from other Bundesländer for his blog, such as Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, to fuel anti-immigrant rhetoric. While discussing incidents from outside Saxony is of lesser relevance to the people of Saxony, he may look toward growing a national audience online due to his poor in-person performances. His comments about events in other states are atypical for a regional politician, but it manages to incite and intensify the same fear and hatred in his audience, no matter where the incident took place.

Jörg Urban is an influential figure in the AfD, working to secure a majority in Saxony in the 2024 state election. Urban is well integrated into the national AfD establishment and likely will become a more powerful figure after the election in the fall. Much of his rhetoric concerns the security of Germany, “rescuing” it from impositions by NATO, the United States, and immigrants. Distancing Germany from its allies and tying it closer to non-democratic states, Urban’s talking points threaten the stability of the European continent and the future of German democracy.