Dealing with extremists: Examination of an AfD ban now “more urgent and promising”

CDU security expert Roderich Kiesewetter is calling for a ban on the AfD in the Bundestag to be considered. Other politicians from the CDU and SPD are also calling for a tougher approach against the party, which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution now classifies as firmly right-wing extremist.

When Friedrich Merz receives his certificate of appointment as Chancellor from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, he will also have to deal with an old, controversial issue that has recently taken on new urgency and is likely to generate conflict within the new coalition. After the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution upgraded the AfD to a confirmed right-wing extremist party, there are growing calls within the future coalition parties, the CDU and SPD, for a much tougher stance against the AfD. The AfD's goal is "to change our social system and destroy the CDU as a people's party," Bundestag member Roderich Kiesewetter told the Süddeutsche Zeitung . In his view, the upgrade should have swift consequences in the Bundestag.