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Steinmeier: Extremists have always been our country’s misfortune
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is concerned about this year’s state elections. photo
© Annette Riedl/dpa
A meeting of radicals increases concerns about a rise in right-wing populism. The Federal President calls for vigilance. However, an AfD ban procedure remains controversial.
After a meeting of right-wing extremist circles became known Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has expressed concern to AfD officials about the growing right-wing populism in Germany. “If we look back into history, we realize that extremists have always been the misfortune of our country,” the head of state told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. In connection with the Potsdam meeting, he said that this shows “that we have to be very vigilant.”
The background is a meeting of right-wing activists and extremists in November, which the media company Correctiv reported on. The participants included AfD politicians and at least one CDU member as well as members of the ultra-conservative Values Union, which is not part of the CDU but has long felt connected to it. The speaker at the meeting was the former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian Movement in Austria, Martin Sellner. According to his own statements, he spoke about how more foreigners and Germans with a migration background could leave Germany and how people with a history of immigration could be pushed to assimilate.
Steinmeier emphasized that Germany had so far lived very well with its democracy, as shaped by the Basic Law. “Many things have been achieved in this country that others long for.” This was successful because there was a willingness to compromise even after sharp political disputes. “I would very much like every voter to remember this very clearly before casting their vote.” He hopes that everyone who votes “does so not only in a mood of anger or frustration – but also with awareness of the consequences.”
Warning of attack on “essence of this republic”
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) called for a joint stand against populism and right-wing radicalism. “We together must not allow this democracy to falter,” he said on Friday evening at the Green Party’s New Year’s reception in Hamburg City Hall. “We must finally open our eyes to recognize that the attack that the AfD and the people to the right of the AfD are waging is not an attack on individual issues. It is an attack on the essence of this republic.”
“If populism and right-wing radicalism make the insolvability of problems their essence, then we have to solve them,” warned the Vice Chancellor. That is the task of all democratic parties and politicians. “Let’s not argue about who is the opponent or the main opponent or the enemy. The main opponent in this time is never another democratic party, but it is the anti-democrats who want to shake this republic,” said Habeck.
AfD ban process: Long duration, unclear prospects of success
The meeting in Potsdam also reignited discussion about a procedure to ban the AfD. Steinmeier made it clear that he doesn’t think much of it. He couldn’t assess the chances of success and the process would probably take a very long time. “I recommend that we concentrate on what is possible and necessary this year: we should give better answers, we should organize democratic majorities and strengthen them.”
The AfD is stable at over 20 percent in opinion polls nationwide. In Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, where new state parliaments will be elected in September, it is over 30 percent. According to the surveys, it is by far the strongest force in all three federal states.
Former Constitutional Court President advises against applying for a ban
The former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Hans-Jürgen Papier, spoke out against attempts to ban the AfD. “That would only play into the hands of the AfD,” said Papier to the “Tagesspiegel”. The Basic Law sets high hurdles for banning parties in Article 21. Two attempts to ban the NPD failed before the Federal Constitutional Court.
In order to ban a party, the fundamental principles of the rule of law and democracy would have to be attacked, in an aggressive and combative manner, for example in the form of a more or less violent overthrow. In addition, given its weight, the party should be able to eliminate this fundamental constitutional value decision. Even if the AfD, in contrast to the NPD, would have this weight in Papier’s opinion, he is critical of a proposal for a ban. You should only submit it “if you have sufficient information to really substantiate all of the points mentioned and there is a high probability of success,” said Papier. “Based on my information, I currently believe that a ban proposal is wrong,” he added.