Relic of the Rhenish Republic: With the establishment of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Cologne, the Federal Republic followed the Allies' advice to separate the secret services and the police.
Image: dpa
You have to worry about democracy. But an authority will not save Germany from the AfD. A guest post.
THomas Haldenwang, the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, appealed to citizens to educate themselves about right-wing extremists at a press conference hosted by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday. “Let’s take a closer look and expose them for what they are – enemies of democracy!” Is the camouflage permitted by law for the constitutional protection authorities actually necessary for this exposure? Isn't it clear what right-wing extremists want even without intelligence findings?
Gerhart Baum, Faeser's predecessor in office from 1978 to 1982, objected to the demand for the abolition of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the FAZ on February 2nd. We can understand that he is worried about German democracy. The AfD is emerging more and more clearly as a party that is at war with a liberal constitution. We also understand that in 1950, the untrained, young Federal Republic wanted to protect the basic law it had just launched against extremists like the (National) “Socialist Reich Party” (and the KPD): there were still too many National Socialists, according to surveys one-party leader state. No wonder that the Western Allies – mindful of the all-powerful Gestapo – demanded in the so-called “police letter” that the secret service should be separated from the police.
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