AfD’s “counter-report”: How anti-constitutional are CDU and CSU politicians?

A legal opinion is circulating among the AfD's federal leadership that targets the governing parties, the CDU and CSU. Its central thesis is that, according to the standards applied by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in upgrading the AfD to "confirmed right-wing extremist," the CDU/CSU should also be considered anti-constitutional.

The document is available to the Berliner Zeitung. You can download it here.

The 50-page paper was written by Cologne-based media lawyer Christian Conrad, who regularly represents the AfD in legal proceedings. As part of a "thought experiment," he applies key passages from the BfV's AfD report to statements by CDU politicians, such as Chancellor Friedrich Merz , parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (both CDU), and Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU).

The quotes from CDU/CSU politicians are being analyzed under the same constitutional protection criteria as previously applied to statements by AfD officials. These include statements that are intended to demonstrate an "ethnic-based" understanding of the people , or alleged violations of the rule of law and democratic principles.

Reference to AfD's defense strategy in court

The counter-"report" may not be intended solely as a polemical provocation. It could also provide insight into the AfD's defense before the Cologne Administrative Court , where the party is currently fighting its classification as right-wing extremist. Apparently, the party wants to demonstrate that, in its view, the standards of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution are politically flexible—and could equally be applied to "any other political party," as the report states.

The AfD has filed both a lawsuit and an urgent application challenging its classification as "confirmed right-wing extremist." The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has subsequently issued a so-called standstill pledge . Until a decision is made on the urgent application, the agency will no longer publicly describe the AfD as "confirmed right-wing extremist."

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