President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Haldenwang recently warned against extremist currents in the AfD – the party sharply criticized him for it. Now Haldenwang gets backing from the Union to the left.
The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, has the backing of all other parties for his critical statements about the AfD. This is reported by the newspaper “Welt”.
In the course of the European election meeting of the AfD, Haldenwang had repeatedly pointed out right-wing extremist currents in the party and corresponding statements at the party conference. The AfD had defended itself against this with an urgent application to the court – whereupon the Office for the Protection of the Constitution assured that it would no longer speak publicly until the end of the meeting.
Immediately after the end of the event, Haldenwang reiterated his statements, also in the ARD.
Support from Union to Left
He now received support for this from all other parties represented in the Bundestag. “The AfD is woven into right-wing extremist connections in this country. It is the duty of the security authorities, first and foremost the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, to keep a close eye on this danger and to share the knowledge gained,” quoted the “Welt” as saying the parliamentary director of the Greens, Irene Mihalic .
The domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Hartmann, said that the AfD was on a “course of continuous radicalization”. Haldenwang is right with his statements that informing the public is part of his statutory duty.
Stephan Thomae, parliamentary director of the FDP parliamentary group, said he shares Haldenwang’s assessment of the AfD. It is at his discretion when he makes a statement. According to the newspaper, the Union said that the protection of the constitution primarily serves as an early warning system. “I almost expect Mr. Haldenwang to point out extremist activities as soon as he discovers them,” said CDU domestic politician Alexander Throm.
Martina Renner, spokeswoman for anti-fascist politics, spoke for the left, which is fundamentally critical of the protection of the constitution and calls for its abolition: “The AfD is not a democratic party. If you are of the opinion that a democracy needs a politically active secret service, then then such an assessment is the task of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.”
AfD continues to criticize
The AfD stuck to its criticism of Haldenwang and indirectly accused him of political motivation: “In order to keep his job as a CDU member under an SPD interior minister, he probably has to act so incorrigibly,” said Deputy Federal Spokesman Stephan Brandner.