Farage at CPAC: 'I wouldn't vote for Merkel'

DW: Mr. Farage, we have seen Brexit happen, we've seen Donald Trump rise to power in the United States, the Germans have their own elections coming up at the end of 2017, what advice would you have for the Germans?

Nigel Farage: Well, I wouldn't vote for Angela Merkel, that's the first piece of advice I'd give. I mean, look at the catastrophic errors she made: opening up the doors to so-called refugees, it turned out that 70 percent of them were young males, economic migrants. No vetting, no security checks on a single one of them, and all of this in a regime within Europe - that she has been the biggest supporter of - where a man can drive a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin. And because she's given up border controls, the most wanted man in Europe if not the world is able to catch a train to France, and then to Italy, without anyone checking who he is.

So I think - we're looking at German elections, we're looking at Dutch elections, French elections and before too long there will be Italian elections too - I think there's going to be a big shift in European politics this year.

And speaking of which, with all these elections coming up in Europe, with Brexit coming up, do you see the end of globalization as near?

Well, what I see isn't the end of something, it's the rebirth of something. The rebirth of the concept of a nation state that democratically runs itself, makes its own rules and controls its own borders. We're actually going back to normality, we're going back to common sense. I feel terribly excited about it.

How do you think Brexit is going so far? We just saw Prime Minister May put forward her proposal for it, do you think it's a good proposal?

Well, we're nearly eight months on and nothing has happened. Nothing! Nothing! I have to say, she talks the talk, she gives wonderful speeches - I mean, don't forget she backed the "Remain" side - it all sounds marvelous, but nothing has happened. I think the answer is that the jury is out. Ask me in a year's time, I'll know the answer.

I hope she holds faith with the British people. If she doesn't, they are going to be very angry.

Nigel Farage is the former leader of the euroskeptic United Kingdom Independence Party and, despite the impending "Brexit," still a sitting Member of the European Parliament. After playing a key role in the "Leave" campaign, and an even more crucial one in bringing the EU referendum about in the first place, Farage quit his role at UKIP declaring a British political mission of more than 20 years to be accomplished. Before long, he then emerged on the US campaign trail alongside Donald Trump, and now appears to be seeking to establish a niche for himself Stateside.

DW's Maya Shwayder conducted the interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.