Declaring the Alternative for Germany ‘extremist’ could mean everything. But for the moment it likely means nothing.
On Friday, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency categorised the far-right party as a right-wing extremist group – a significant step given that the party is currently polling neck and neck with the Christian democrats of chancellor-to-be Friedrich Merz. On top of this, the move is unprecedented against any major party.
The agency justified the decision by noting the “extremist character of the party as a whole, which disregards human dignity.” But will the reinvigorated discussion about the far-right party have any tangible consequence?
In the short term, not really.
For one, it puts an outright ban on the AfD back on the table. Yet this would be a tedious process and risks making a martyr of the party. Added to which, a cross-party proposal to muzzle the extremist group failed in January.
Rather than repeating this unsuccessful enterprise, Germany’s interior ministers plan to discuss “what consequences this classification will have for the activities of AfD members in public service”, Bavaria's minister Joachim Herrmann told Bild.
And whilst this sounds like a call to dismiss AfD members from public service, this would only happen if the party itself were banned.
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