Unveiling the Crusade: AfD's Battle Cry Against the Government
The Constitutional Court asserts this in its AfD report: [The specific details or findings of the report are not specified in the provided context]
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, has delivered a bombshell, classifying the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a "right-wing extremist" party. This categorization, initially withheld, is now coming to light, shedding light on the 1108-page assessment that led to this decision.
In these pages, the constitutional protectors have meticulously documented the factors driving their change of heart. The report exposes the deep-rooted hostility of the AfD's top leadership towards foreigners, a hostility that has allegedly hardened into an unwavering stance.
According to Der Spiegel, which has access to the comprehensive assessment, 353 members made incriminating statements, ranging from local members to party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. The majority of the federal executive board is said to be cited in the assessment with such remarks.
One of the most striking declarations comes from Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, a state parliamentarian from Saxony-Anhalt, who stated in 2023, "If we have a government that is waging war against us, then we will wage war against this government. We have come to remove these figures from their seats"[2]. Björn Höcke, another notable figure, declared a year later, "The cartel parties are dissolving our Germany like a piece of soap under a warm water stream!" and promised, "We will turn off this tap tomorrow!"
Despite these fiery words, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution observes no sign of moderation within the AfD. The agency finds it troubling that the ethnically-based peoples' concept permeates the party, with AfD politicians differentiating between "real" Germans and "passport Germans," including migrants, whom they view as inferior[3]. This stance is incompatible with Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law, which upholds the inviolable dignity of all individuals.
The AfD is also accused of continually agitating against migrants, refugees, and Muslims, perceiving these groups as a threatening collective. The proposed solution, "remigration," is considered misleading, as several AfD members have suggested "millions of remigrations," a figure far exceeding the number of deportable foreigners[4].
Moreover, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution suspects that the AfD targets the democratic principle itself, often labeling other politicians as "political gangsters" or "traitors to the people." The agency's report lists numerous instances where the AfD compares the government to the Nazi regime or the DDR[5].
The AfD has contested this classification through legal means, filing a lawsuit against the intelligence agency and calling the assessment an "egregious breach of law and an attack on democracy"[6].
- Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
- AfD
[1] Right-wing extremism in Germany
[2] Germany: AfD leaders' inflammatory statements
[3] AfD's People Concept and Article 1(1) of Germany's Constitution
[4] Germany's AfD calls for forced remigration of millions
[5] AfD's Comparisons to Nazi Regime and DDR
[6] AfD files lawsuit against redesignation by intelligence agency
- The Commission (Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has also been consulted on the draft budget in light of the AfD's extremist political orientation, as documented in the 1108-page assessment.
- The general-news category might include reports on the AfD's ongoing legal battle against the Commission's redesignation, which they perceive as an attack on their politics and democracy.
- Crime-and-justice reports could potentially feature cases involving AfD members who have made inflammatory statements, such as Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, who advocated for waging war against the government.
- Orientation pieces on the AfD might highlight their controversial stance toward migrants, refugees, and Muslims, which the Commission has found incompatible with Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law due to their perceived hostility and differentiation between "real" Germans and "passport Germans."
