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Calls are mounting to ban Germany’s far-right AfD party – despite it being more popular than ever

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now Germany’s largest opposition group and even topped several opinion polls – briefly putting it ahead of now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right party – in the weeks after February’s federal election.

At the same time, the AfD is facing growing calls for an outright ban, most recently from another major political party.

In May, the country’s domestic intelligence agency formally classified the AfD as an extremist entity that threatens democracy. In a 1,100-page report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, also laid out its findings that the party was racist, anti-Muslim, and devaluing of “entire segments” of Germany’s population.

That move, which enables the BfV to better monitor the group , has reignited attempts to impose a ban, despite the party claiming a significant 20.8% of the vote in February’s national election – the best performance by a far-right party in the country since World War II.

The AfD has also enjoyed very vocal support from the Trump administration, with Tesla billionaire Elon Musk – who has since left his position in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – urging Germans to vote for the party in the run-up to the election. More recently, both US Vice President, JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have criticized Germany’s decision to classify the AfD as extremist.

On Monday, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is currently serving as the junior coalition partner in Berlin’s conservative-led government, voted unanimously to begin efforts to outlaw it.

Adding fuel to the fire?

The rise of the AfD has triggered widespread unease, with protesters calling for it to be outlawed – most notably in early 2024, when tens of thousands of demonstrators descended on cities across Germany after it emerged that senior AfD party members had discussed a plan to deport migrants en masse.

Yet German lawmakers remain divided over the issue, with some fearing the move could backfire and fuel far-right sympathies.

Pointing to its classification as a right-wing extremist organisation, SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil told party members at a conference Monday that efforts to ban the AfD should begin.

“The moment the domestic intelligence agency says this is a confirmed right-wing extremist party, there can be no more tactics,” he said.

Yet Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – which leads Germany’s coalition government – is hesitant.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU) – the CDU’s Bavarian sister party – poured cold water on the SPD’s motion. Speaking to German news podcast “Table. Today,” he said that “decisions made at the SPD party conference are not yet a mandate for the interior minister.”

Merz has himself expressed caution over the move, telling newspaper Die Zeit in May that he is “skeptical” of procedures to ban political parties.

The AfD’s unparalleled public approval, not to mention support from the Trump administration, a powerful transatlantic ally, means its prohibition could have significant reverberations.

Some opinion polls found that, in the weeks after the Germany’s election , support for the AfD had crept up even higher than its 20.8% official result, briefly making it the most popular party in the country.

National polling agency Forsa in April found that the AfD was polling at a record 26% – putting it two percentage points higher than the CDU, on 24%. Currently, Forsa shows the AfD at 24% – four points behind the CDU.

With the AfD’s support reaching such heights, Holterhus sees a risk of creating a “martyr effect” in the case of a ban, with the AfD “staging itself as a victim of political opponents.” This, he said, could result in further radicalization of some of its supporters and even politically motivated violence.

Lengthy legal proceedings, he said, could further heighten the AfD’s platform while the move also risks the “wrath” of the Trump administration and could play into the populist narrative of an “undemocratic Europe.”

This post appeared first on cnn.com

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