New study | Good chances for banning the right-wing extremist AfD

Can the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution's (BfV) report on the AfD, which has been available for months, support proceedings to ban the party? Cologne-based constitutional lawyer Markus Ogorek, director of the Institute for Public Law and Administrative Studies, has examined this issue. The "nd" newspaper has also obtained his detailed legal analysis. The conclusion is: Yes.

The background to this is the classification of the AfD as "certainly right-wing extremist," which the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) made in May . In its report, the domestic intelligence agency documented, among other things, that the party uses an "ethnic-origin-based concept of people" and distinguishes German citizens from so-called "passport Germans."

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) declared at the time that the BfV's AfD report was insufficient to ban the party. Ogorek countered that it was "of significant importance" for the preparation of any potential party ban proceedings. He justified this with a re-evaluation of hundreds of statements by AfD officials collected by the BfV. Ogorek assessed these statements against the strict standards of the Federal Constitutional Court. His conclusion: The majority of them demonstrate "xenophobia, hostility towards minorities, Islamophobia, and hostility towards Muslims."

Ogorek also points to the high legal hurdles for banning a party and emphasizes that a positive outcome is not guaranteed. A crucial point is proving that the AfD "intends to impair or eliminate the free democratic basic order." However, the constitutional lawyer sees sufficient evidence for this. Another crucial question is whether the AfD has the potential to achieve its goals. Given its electoral successes, stable structures, and strong social roots, this appears to be the case, Ogorek told Politico magazine.

The constitutional bodies should not wait until the Münster Higher Administrative Court decides in three years on the AfD's lawsuit against the BfV's classification – possibly rejecting it. The legal scholar therefore advocates for the early establishment of a working group comprising the federal and state governments to develop a draft ban in parallel. This proposal is not new: The SPD and the Greens have been calling for such a federal-state working group for months. The Left Party also wants to see proceedings to ban the AfD "finally get underway."

"Every day that the federal government continues to hesitate to initiate proceedings to ban the AfD represents an increasing threat to democracy, the rule of law, and human dignity," says Angela Furmaniak, chairwoman of the Republican Lawyers' Association and spokesperson for the "AfD Ban. Now!" campaign. All attempts to politically challenge the far-right party have failed. "Anyone who sincerely wants to protect human dignity, democracy, and the rule of law cannot avoid banning the AfD," Furmaniak told "nd."