BERLIN — Germany’s leaders must do a better job persuading voters to keep supporting Ukraine and the country’s NATO commitments, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Thursday — even as a nationalist backlash at home forces a rethink of priorities.

“NATO is undergoing a political stress test,” Wadephul told a conference of German ambassadors in Berlin, citing both the external pressure posed by Russia and growing domestic skepticism made “visible and tangible” by recent state elections.

He urged continued support for Kyiv, framing it as more than charity: “It’s about our security in Europe,” he said — though many voters feel that money sent abroad is money missing at home.

The appeal comes after the AfD scored a shock 43.8% in the regional election in Saxony-Anhalt, more than doubling its 2021 result and leaving Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats a distant second at 17.2%.

Wadephul argued the answer was not to retreat from Germany’s commitments but to explain to citizens why they matter. He warned in stark historical terms about complacency in defending democracy: “Germany knows from the Weimar Republic what could happen if Democrats are not ready to defend their system. We have to show that we have learned our lesson.”

The Weimar Republic, Germany’s first parliamentary democracy, was hollowed out amid economic crisis, political paralysis and rising anti-democratic forces before Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor in 1933.

Sunday’s results were not just the AfD’s best showing ever; they were the highest vote share won by any party in the state since reunification.

AfD lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund repeatedly turned foreign spending into a domestic grievance during the campaign. He told regional broadcaster MDR that Germany was “giving away money all over the world” and singled out support for Kyiv: “Every minute, €20,000 goes to Ukraine. That is all money we are missing.”

That line has fuelled an increasingly tense guns-versus-butter debate in Berlin, as Merz’s coalition negotiates the 2027 budget. Germany is set to spend roughly €140 billion on defense next year while facing mounting pressure over pensions, health care and other public services.

The shift is dramatic: defense spending next year will nearly match the roughly €145 billion federal contribution to the pension system, according to the Kiel Institute calculations. In 2022, Germany spent about €50 billion on defense compared with €115 billion on pensions.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte backed Wadephul’s broad point, telling ambassadors that Germany’s choices reverberate beyond its borders.

“I count on every one of you in this room to carry that message with you: that a stronger Germany makes Europe stronger, that a stronger Europe makes NATO stronger,” he said at the same conference.

Rutte also tried to soothe concerns that far-right gains could weaken the alliance, saying NATO would work with “whoever is elected” and that he had “no doubt that the alliance will stay very strong.”

Critics say that argument glosses over why so many voters are upset: ordinary Germans see money and resources diverted abroad while basic services at home strain. If Berlin wants continued public backing for an assertive NATO posture, it must answer those questions honestly — and fast.