The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, sees little resistance to extremist tendencies in the AfD. He also rates the “heterogeneous mixed scene” of the so-called Reich citizens as worrying.
From the point of view of the protection of the constitution, the AfD is now steering almost unchecked towards the far right. “We hardly notice any more forces that are trying to oust the extremist tendencies from the party,” said the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, in an interview with the German press agency. At the same time, it can be observed “that right-wing extremists like Björn Höcke have had a strong influence on the party.”
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist – an assessment that was confirmed by the Cologne Administrative Court in the first instance. The party continues to defend itself against the assessment. The proceedings at the Higher Administrative Court in Münster are still ongoing. “Without making a prognosis regarding our next test, a certain trend is currently discernible: it’s going further to the right,” said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
A unifying parenthesis: the rejection and overcoming of the system of the Federal Republic of Germany
With a view to the most recent arrests in the “Reichsbürger” scene, the head of the domestic secret service explained that it was worrying how quickly this association had managed to network nationwide. The “heterogeneous mixed scene” that can be observed here includes so-called Reichsbürger and self-governors, in some cases also right-wing extremists, active or former AfD members, supporters of various conspiracy narratives and people who belong to the new phenomenon area “delegitimization of the constitutional protection relevant to the constitutional protection”. State” are to be attributed. “The unifying force of the actors is the rejection and overcoming of the system of the Federal Republic of Germany,” stated Haldenwang.
The federal prosecutor’s office had 25 people arrested in a major raid on December 7th. She accuses 22 of them of being a member of a terrorist organization that wanted to overthrow the political system. The other three are about support. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, there have been 54 suspects in the process so far. Among those arrested is the judge and former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. Disciplinary proceedings initiated by the Berlin Regional Court are now underway against them. “Reich citizens” do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures.