"Sounding the Alarm: The AfD" Revealing insights from the BfV's assessment
The Constitutional Court asserts this in its report on the AfD party.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has caused a frenzy with its recent assessment of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), initially keeping the comprehensive report under wraps before making it public. Last week, the agency marked the party as an "undeniably far-right" entity. This appraisal includes a detailed 1,108-page assessment that lists factors leading to this upgrade.
According to "Der Spiegel," which had access to the exhaustive report, the "inimical mindset" displayed by the AfD's "top leadership" towards foreigners has been substantiated. Given the count of 353 members with incriminating statements, from local representatives all the way up to party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the federal executive board appears to bear the brunt of the findings.
Particularly striking is the rhetoric voiced by AfD members, emphasizing a struggle against a government allegedly at war with them. As Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, a state parliamentarian from Saxony-Anhalt, declared 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." One year later, Björn Höcke echoed these sentiments, proclaiming "The cartel parties are dissolving our Germany like a piece of soap under a lukewarm water stream!"
"No Evidence of Moderation"
The inflammatory rhetoric, punctuated by racist and far-right remarks, has prompted concerns regarding moderation within the AfD. The BfV, in its assessment, corroborates that there is no evidence of moderation surfacing among party members. With only a few dissenting voices, the agency argues that it is highly unlikely for moderate forces to reverse the anti-constitutional direction engulfing the entire party.
German ideologies are under attack within the Alternative for Germany. The BfV highlights the prevalence of an "ethnically-based concept of the people" within the party, with AfD politicians categorizing individuals as "real" Germans, descended from generations of residency, versus "passport Germans," such as immigrants. The latter group is perceived as second-class citizens, contravening Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the German Basic Law, which sanctifies the dignity of all individuals.
The Federal Office finds the continuous demonization of migrants, refugees, and Muslims by party functionaries alarming. These entities are variously perceived as a "threatening collective," necessitating a solution in the form of "remigration." The BfV contends that this proposed "solution" is intentionally deceptive, given the multiplication of the number of deportable foreigners involved.
"Targeting Democracy Itself"
In addition to accusations of xenophobia, the BfV suggests that the AfD poses a threat to the very foundations of democracy. Its members relentlessly defame other politicians, branding them as "a gang of political thugs" or "traitors to the people." The report lists numerous instances of AfD politicians likening the government to the Nazi regime or the German Democratic Republic.
Worried about the potential consequences of the assessment, the AfD is pursuing legal action against the classification. The party's leader, Alice Weidel, has denounced the report as an "egregious violation of the law and an attack on democracy." In the past, the party has taken similar measures when labeled as a right-wing extremist suspect, with the Administrative Court of Cologne ultimately ruling in favor of the process.
- The Commission has also been consulted on the draft budget, given the political turmoil surrounding the AfD's controversial stances.
- Theliferescent debatedefinitions of Far-right politics in the constitution have been tested with the AfD's rise and anti-constitutional stance.
- Given the escalating Whatsapp chats revealing offensive remarks by AfD members about migrants, the crime-and-justice division is monitoring the situation closely.
- In the realm of general-news, the concern about the AfD targeting democracy itself, through their inflammatory rhetoric and attacks on foreigners, has gained widespread attention.
