[Video transcript]
Meet the much bigger and much bolder far-right AfD group in the German parliament.
Their inaugural meeting: A chance for the newbies to say hello, and for the old hands to take stock of their rapid rise.
Just over a decade since the Alternative for Germany was formed, they're now the second biggest force in the Bundestag with 152 MPs.
Alice Weidel, AfD Co-leader: "We are excited about working together. We will see what the new parliament brings."
Today is also about deciding the fate of some controversial figures.
Maximillian Krah was kicked off the executive board last year for playing down the crimes of the Nazi SS.
Reporter: "How did the meeting go?"
Krah: "The meeting was like I expected. It was business as usual."
Reporter: "Are you still in the party fraction?"
Krah: "Of course."
Then there is Matthias Helferich. He described himself as the friendly face of national socialism, or Nazism. He’s back, too.
The return of these controversial characters — a demonstration of the AfD's sense of strength.
Beatrix von Storch says they want to use that muscle to hold the next government’s feet to the fire. Especially on migration and economic reforms.
Beatrix von Storch, AfD: "We are the ones to remind them of what people wanted and people in Germany voted for a change in politics and this is what we will address constantly."
Political opponents, however, are concerned that the AfD will turn the Bundestag into a spectacle.
They’re already notorious for their heckling. Take one measure of disruption: Calls to order. That’s when the Bundestag president reprimands rowdy MPs.
Before the AfD entered parliament, calls to order were rare. But between 2017 and 2021, when the AfD arrived, there were 49. And in the last period, there were at least 110. Of those, two thirds were for the AfD.
Von Storch rejects the criticism.
Beatrix von Strorch, AfD Deputy Group Leader: "We really differ, we really want something else and they have just lost the capacity to have a real debate."
Even though the AfD is going to be in opposition, and even though it's been sidelined by the other parties, the AfD is determined to be the center of attention —one way or another.