Germany sees new debate over possible ban of the AfD

On Friday, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was classified as "confirmed right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). Now, there has been a first fallout: two AfD politicians and parliamentarians are not allowed to accompany Hesse's minister for European affairs, Manfred Pentz, on a trip to Serbia and Croatia.

Pentz explained that he could not expect international partners "to sit down at the same table with representatives of a party that has been confirmed as right-wing extremist."Further measures also threaten the radical right-wing party: several federal states want to examine whether being a civil servant, including judges, police officers, teachers, or soldiers, is still compatible with being a member of the AfD.Referring to the decision by the BfV, CDU leader Friedrich Merz said: "Since last weekend at the latest, it has also become inconceivable for me to elect AfD members of the German Bundestag to the position of committee chairperson."A setback for AfDFor the AfD, this represents a setback in the party's efforts to become politically mainstream after its successful federal election in February 2025, when it became the second-strongest political force in Germany with 20.8% of the vote.

The political headwinds come in the wake of the more serious assessment by the German domestic intelligence service. As of May 2, 2025, the agency no longer classifies the party as merely "under observation as right-wing extremist," but now as a "confirmed right-wing extremist movement."Decisive for this decision was a "distinctive ethnicity, and ancestry, based understanding that devalues entire population groups in Germany and violates their human dignity," the vice presidents of the domestic intelligence service explained in a press release.The AfD on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution at the Cologne Administrative Court. AfD co-chairs Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel called the classification of the party as right-wing extremist "obviously unlawful."They claim that the authorities want to criminalize any criticism of Germany's immigration policy. The party leaders said that "it is not the AfD that is violating the constitution, but the German domestic intelligence service" itself.Their main point of criticism is the fact that the domestic intelligence service is an agency under the Ministry of the Interior, and thus an agency of the federal government. AfD politicians complain that the ruling parties are using the domestic intelligence agency to fight the political opposition.What does designated as 'extremist' mean for Germany's AfD?The AfD is in court regularlyHowever, the security authority's report is largely based on court rulings by the independent judiciary, which have provided extensive evidence of just how radical the AfD is.

A landmark ruling by the Higher Administrative Court of Münster on May 13, 2024, stated that there are grounds to suspect that the AfD's aim is to "confer a legally inferior status to those German citizens with a migration background." The court cited extensive evidence for its ruling and found that the monitoring of the AfD by the BfV was justified.In addition, numerous elected representatives from the AfD have been convicted by German courts, including one of its most influential faces, the Thuringian state chairman Björn Höcke.

He repeatedly and knowingly used slogans from Adolf Hitler's infamous Sturmabteilung, or SA, to close his election rallies.In the past, AfD member of parliament Matthias Helferich described himself as the friendly face of National Socialism. The former AfD member of parliament and judge, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, is currently on trial for allegedly supporting a terrorist organization and allegedly supporting a coup d'état.In light of the abundance of evidence for the extremist aspirations of the AfD, the German Foreign Ministry also dismissed the accusations made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. On the platform X, Rubio criticized the BfV's assessment of the AfD as "tyranny in disguise." Also on X, the German government replied that this assessment was the result of a "well-considered and independent investigation to protect our constitution and the rule of law."A ban of the AfD?The decision to reclassify the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist party has also fueled debates about the possibility of banning the AfD. Politicians from various political camps and parties, as well as civil society organizations, are in favor of Germany's highest court, the Federal Constitutional Court, opening a procedure to review the matter. At the same time, however, there is also skepticism and caution among almost all parties with regard to such a move.In Germany, the hurdles for banning a party are extremely high. A motion to ban a party can only be initiated by the Bundestag, the federal government, or the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.In proceedings before the Constitutional Court, a majority of two-thirds of the highest German judges is required. Ultimately, politicians have no influence on the decision of the judiciary, as all they can do is submit the request.Constitutional law expert Franz Mayer from the University of Bielefeld is in favor of initiating a procedure to ban the AfD: "It is quite clear that we have deliberately taken certain precautions in the Basic Law in the wake of our historical experiences with the 'Third Reich,'" the law professor told DW in an interview.The lawyer is also aware of the criticism leveled against such a move."Especially in the US, I have seen time and again how this German approach, shaped by history, needs to be explained," Mayer said.

But he believes it would be the right move, given Germany's experience with the National Socialist tyranny, which quickly transformed the German constitutional state into a system of terror and mass murder.With regard to the BfV's current assessment of the AfD, he believes that concrete legal action against individual AfD members in public service is inevitable. "I consider it entirely unthinkable that extremist judges should be allowed to remain in office," Mayer said.