MÜENSTER. The AfD has spoken out about this Judgment of the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia outraged that the party could be classified as a “suspect case” by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “We are surprised that no evidence has to be provided for accusations and that the court has not required it,” AfD federal chair Alice Weidel complained at a news conference in Berlin. “The verdict is not acceptable to us,” Weidel emphasized.
Co-chair Tino Chrupalla added that the timing of the verdict announcement “in the middle of the European election campaign also shows that there is a political motivation behind it.” In the following days, the Federal Administrative Council will assess the reasons for the verdict – which are not yet available. “We will probably see each other again in Leipzig,” Weidel predicted. The Federal Administrative Court has its seat in Leipzig. There, the AfD can appeal against the decision of the Higher Administrative Court not to allow an appeal.
CDU man: “Proposal for a ban before the parliamentary summer holidays”
Meanwhile, politicians from several parties have called for a ban on the AfD. “Now the chances of success of a ban procedure must be examined in concrete terms,” said Saxony’s Interior Minister Katja Meier (Greens). Daily mirror. She proposed the creation of a task force by the Conference of Interior Ministers. This group must then – as with the NPD banning process – collect material for later application. “Our democracy is too precious not to actually use all possible constitutional instruments to protect our Constitution,” Meier emphasized.
She found support, among others, from CDU member of the Bundestag Marco Wanderwitz. “My wish is that we submit the ban proposal before the parliamentary summer break,” he demanded from the House Time. “Particularly in the East, the party can no longer be politically downsized.” The Left Party member of the Bundestag, Martina Renner, made the same comments online. “Such a motion is the self-defense of democracy against its enemies.”
Legal expert: End of financing and ban not excluded
Public law professor at the University of Münster, Fabian Wittreck, considers a party ban against the AfD realistic. “They are dangerously close to what led to the end of party financing in the NPD,” he explained Frankfurter Rundschau. The AfD must at least prepare for this – if not more: “The verdict is a new piece in the mosaic towards a party ban.”
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) is not convinced. The verdict “does not automatically pave the way for a procedure to ban the AfD,” he emphasized to the newspapers of the media group Funke. “You should only try something like this if you are very sure that it will be successful.” Instead, he wants to continue to fight the AfD with arguments. “That should remain the claim of serious Democrats.”
His party colleague Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger agreed with this opinion. A ban is not sustainable. “We must offer the AfD content to convince its voters of democracy again,” the former Justice Minister wrote on X. Both liberals assessed the ruling of the judges in Münster as correct.
AfD previously failed with a lawsuit in Cologne
The verdict was also welcomed by Bundestag Green Party member Konstantin von Notz. “The AfD is undoubtedly one of these enemies of our liberal democracy. The fact that this can be observed is only consistent and an expression of the defensive power of our rule of law – especially against the background of German history,” he said. News portal RND.
Similar comments came from Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Hermann (CSU): “The verdict confirms that the federal and state authorities for constitutional protection are right to keep a close eye on the extremist currents within the AfD,” he told the dpa news agency. It must now be determined whether the party can be classified as “certainly right-wing extremist”.
On Monday, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia rejected the AfD’s appeal against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.. The party can therefore be classified as a right-wing extremist ‘suspect case’ by the domestic secret service. The party had previously failed in its lawsuit at the Cologne Administrative Court. (sv)