Federal President for the Protection of the Constitution Haldenwang sees the AfD nationwide on course to the right. Are you also observing this development in Brandenburg, Mr. Müller?
We monitor the state association of the AfD. There is sufficiently weighty factual evidence for his extremist positioning. The Brandenburg AfD is currently a suspected right-wing extremist. From our point of view, the radicalization of the language is still clearly visible. The völkisch-nationalist camp, the wing that has since been dissolved, forms the core of the party in Brandenburg.
Is an upgrade of the Brandenburg AfD as a secured extremist effort, as has already happened in Thuringia?
The upgrade can be expected when the legal requirements for it are met. Suspicion has to turn into certainty. We check this continuously. We will first wait and see how the administrative court decides on the classification of the AfD as a suspected case.
What would be the consequences of classifying the AfD as an extremist movement for your work?
The assessment as a secured extremist effort means that the hurdles for the use of intelligence resources are lowered. The threshold of proportionality is reached more quickly.
What would change for state officials who are members of the AfD?
Loyalty to the constitution means more than neutrality, namely conscious and active advocacy for the free democratic basic order. Members of an extremist group cannot say that about themselves. They cannot, therefore, become soldiers, police officers, correctional officers or teachers. However, this presupposes that the recruitment authority knows that an applicant is a member. In Brandenburg, we have therefore initiated a draft law for a constitutional loyalty check. And we would store all members of an extremist party in our system. We currently only save AfD members who have attracted attention with their right-wing extremist positioning.
Wouldn’t the upgrade be grist to the mills of the AfD, which is already telling the tale of its oppression by the ruling system?
Of course, the AfD tries to use the assessment by the authorities for the protection of the constitution as evidence that it is being kept artificially small as a political force. That’s the victim role we’re already familiar with. The party could definitely take part in the political competition, just not with extremist theses. Incidentally, this assertion completely ignores the fact that we live in a constitutional state in which decisions by the authorities for the protection of the constitution are subject to judicial review. And that constitutional protection officers cannot politically justify the observation of a party, but must provide sufficient evidence of the extremist positioning of the AfD.
In the most recent voter polls, the AfD was on par with the CDU or even the strongest force. Is there still a dam between the party and the majority of citizens?
I am not an authority that interprets election forecasts. We are dealing with the phenomenon known as the dissolution of extremism: extremists use issues that concern many people in order to connect with the broader population. According to the polls you mentioned, that seems to be working in parts of society.
Have you done enough to warn people?
I have to ask myself these questions. Our job is to be an early warning system. I think we made it very clear in Brandenburg why we think the AfD is extremist and what goals it is pursuing. We have reached a large part of the population. There is still a broad democratic majority that needs to be activated. But we will not stop asking ourselves why we have not yet reached other parts of society.
What do you think is the AfD’s recipe for success?
The simplification of complex problems. Picking up people who no longer believe that democracy is the recipe for success. It’s exhausting trying to reach a consensus. Sometimes it is also personally difficult to accept that majorities differ from the individual opinion. As you can see, there is no simple answer. But one thing is clear: we live in a time when people have the feeling that one crisis is chasing the next. The AfD doesn’t make any real offers about this, it’s apparently enough to say: We are different from the others.
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