The fight in Germany to try to distance itself from the extreme right

For Germany, a country that knows how extremists can hijack a government, the growing popularity of the far right has forced an uncomfortable question.

How far should a democracy go in restricting a party that many say will undermine it?

It is a dilemma facing politicians and legal experts in the country as support grows for the Alternative for Germany, a far-right party whose support now surpasses each of the three parties in the ruling coalition.

The AfD is not only the most popular party in the three states holding elections this year, but in national polls it reaches up to 20 percent. German politicians are alarmed that the party could one day exert influence in the federal government. His popularity has grown despite the intelligence services investigating him as an alleged threat to democracy.

History hangs over Germany—the Nazis used elections to seize the levers of the state and shape an authoritarian system.

Today German lawmakers are rewriting statutes and pushing for constitutional amendments to ensure that courts and state parliaments can provide checks against a future, more powerful AfD.

But each remedy carries its own dangers, leaving German politicians to walk the line between safeguarding their democracy and giving the AfD tools it could use to undermine it.

“It is never the case that if you have democracy, once you have won it, you have it forever,” said Stephan Thomae, a member of Parliament for the Free Democratic Party. “Therefore, we should protect her a little more.”

The AfD's popularity has grown due to concerns about migration and a stagnant economy.

Germany's internal intelligence says 10,000 of the party's 28,500 members are extremists. Some AfD members are embroiled in criminal charges, including a foiled plot in 2022 to overthrow the government.

More recently, several AfD members attended a meeting at which a far-right activist allegedly spoke about his vision of “remigration,” or mass deportations of immigrants, potentially including naturalized citizens. AfD leaders have since denied wanting to deport German citizens. But news of the junta earlier this year sparked weeks of anti-AfD protests across the country.

The AfD's impact on the government is already being felt at the state level. In Hesse, the AfD became the largest Opposition party in the state parliament after last year's elections.

Hesse's main rival parties approved a “democratic package,” rewriting several parliamentary rules.

Nationally, the Home Office has proposed a 13-point plan that would allow security forces to investigate the finances of anyone deemed to have “threat potential”, rather than only investigating people being investigated for incitement or violence.

Another would allow the firing of public officials for alleged ties to extremists, placing the burden of proof on employees.

“A culture of suspicion is being created,” said Gottfried Curio, an AfD lawmaker. “We consider this to be the real threat to democracy.”

However, some Germans are demanding more drastic measures. The ruling coalition in the northern city of Bremen said it will gather evidence against the AfD in support of a national ban on the party.

But many politicians fear that such a move could backfire — effectively disenfranchising voters who express support for the AfD. “Our political task is to explain to people that the true goal of the AfD is to change the foundations of democracy,” Thomae said.