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In a significant move, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Brandenburg has identified the local branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a "confirmed right-wing extremist organization." This classification, announced in a memorandum, comes following several instances of human dignity violations and unconstitutional actions.
The report highlights that the AfD's actions have violated human dignity, particularly through maintaining and intensifying contacts with right-wing extremist organizations since 2020. Key party representatives are also accused of questioning the legitimacy of constitutional procedures and decisions in a manner designed to undermine the German political system.
In the debate on migration, the AfD is criticized for using "apocalyptic horror scenarios" to stoke fears and increase social tensions, which is seen as a threat to social cohesion and democratic stability. Moreover, the broader AfD party is noted for promoting an "ethnically based understanding of the people" that contradicts the human dignity guarantees of the German Constitution.
Interior Minister René Wilke and the head of the Office of Constitutional Protection, Wilfried Peters, presented the memo in Potsdam. Wilke stated that the classification serves as a basis for possible further steps, such as a ban procedure, and that the tools of the rule of law must be used to deter the AfD from its unconstitutional path and to make it feel the consequences.
The memo was also published online simultaneously. However, the initial request by the AfD to publish the note was rejected by Minister Wilke due to a pending urgent application at the Administrative Court. The AfD state chapter's filing of an urgent application with the Administrative Court of Potsdam led to a provisional suspension of the classification and a "standstill declaration" by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Wilke compared the support for the AfD to supporting a football club, stating that there is now a following that supports the party regardless of its performance, and these supporters move in a kind of cultural community space. This cultural community space has so far been observed more in radicalized football clubs or "sect-like conglomerates," according to Wilke.
The Office of Constitutional Protection considers the AfD's statement that German citizens who do not belong to the German people, such as those of the Muslim faith, must be forced to leave the country, as a violation of human dignity and a reduction of these individuals to second-class citizens.
Not all AfD members in Brandenburg can be considered right-wing extremists, according to Minister Wilke. However, the classification enables the more effective and easier use of intelligence measures to monitor and counter any extremist activities within the party.
The AfD faction leader, Hans-Christoph Berndt, responded by stating that Germany should remain a country of Germans and that a part of the Germans should be subject to "remigration." If the AfD continues to radicalize, it will run into a ban procedure, according to Wilke.
[1] Source: Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Brandenburg. [2] Source: Brandenburg Office of Constitutional Protection.
- The debate on the AfD's classification as a right-wing extremist organization by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Brandenburg, and its associated employment and community policies, is a matter of significant political importance, intertwining with general-news discussions about human dignity, democratic stability, and social cohesion.
- The AfD's controversial employment policies, including their stance on migration, have raised concerns over potential human dignity violations and the promotion of an ethnically based understanding of the people, which contrasts with the human dignity guarantees of the German Constitution - issues that have been highlighted in the ongoing political debate.
