The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is facing growing calls for a ban despite becoming Germany’s largest opposition group. The party’s popularity has surged, with some opinion polls showing it briefly ahead of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right party after the February federal election. The AfD’s significant 20.8% of the vote in the national election marks the best performance by a far-right party in Germany since World War II.
In May, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), formally classified the AfD as an extremist entity that threatens democracy. The BfV’s 1,100-page report also found the party to be racist, anti-Muslim, and devaluing of “entire segments” of Germany’s population. This classification has reignited attempts to impose a ban, despite the party’s significant electoral support.
The legal path to banning the AfD is lengthy and unprecedented. Germany’s political system operates on the basis of “militant democracy,” allowing the state to defend itself against internal threats to its democratic principles and constitutional order. To ban a party, two criteria must be met: the party must work against the country’s free democratic order, demonstrating an “actively belligerent, aggressive stance,” and pose a tangible threat to democracy.
Till Holterhus, professor of Constitutional Law at Leuphana University, emphasized that the AfD’s size demonstrates it fulfills the criterion of “potentiality.” However, he noted that the court would need to examine thousands of pages of evidence and hear witnesses to determine whether the party violates the constitution in practice.
If the AfD were to be banned, its sitting lawmakers would receive an automatic loss of mandate at the regional and federal levels, as well as in the European parliament. This would result in a shifting of the majority ratio, with the seats of other parties gaining higher significance.
German lawmakers are divided over the issue, with some fearing the move could backfire and fuel far-right sympathies. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) has voted unanimously to begin efforts to outlaw the AfD, while the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which leads Germany’s coalition government, is hesitant.
The AfD has enjoyed vocal support from the Trump administration and tech billionaire Elon Musk. US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have criticized Germany’s decision to classify the AfD as extremist. A ban on the party could have significant reverberations, both domestically and internationally, potentially creating a “martyr effect” and further radicalizing some of its supporters.
The debate over banning the AfD highlights the complexities of balancing democratic principles with the need to protect the constitutional order. As the legal process unfolds, the implications of a potential ban will continue to be closely watched, both within Germany and beyond.