German authorities suspect the Alternative for Germany (AdG) party, which has the largest opposition faction in the current German parliament, of right-wing extremism. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is tasked with safeguarding the democratic structure of the state, has officially set up surveillance of the party’s representatives.
The Alternative for Germany party has come under surveillance by German authorities as it has been officially charged with suspected right-wing extremism. The AdG called the decision a scandal that could seriously hurt the opposition movement ahead of federal elections. According to the faction members, the package of measures used by the government against the AdG is politically motivated and is designed to give the ruling parties a tool to fight the political opposition. To recognize the AdG as an extremist organization, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution would only need to make a subjective judgment and see a risk in the functioning of the organization.
“The ultimate question is: which parties will be considered ‘right-wing extremist’? It is not publicly known what criteria will be used to determine this. For a government that will use this instrument for its own purposes, it is better to leave the specifics in the mist,” Maximilian Krach, a member of the German Bundestag, declared.
The party has formulated its foreign policy program and from the point of view of its leadership, the EU should be replaced by a “Union of European Nations” and the participating states should organize a free trade zone, a customs union and create a European security architecture. As for NATO and Germany’s participation in military support for Ukraine, AdG co-chair Alice Weidel opposed arms deliveries to Kiev and called for a diplomatic solution to the conflict. She stated this on air of the Welt TV channel. According to Weidel, the AdG is against the division of what is happening in Ukraine into “black” and “white”. “And we clearly spoke out against the supply of weapons and advocated for finding a negotiated solution,” she emphasized. According to Weidel, the conflict “has a backstory” that is often forgotten. The AdG co-chair also spoke in favor of Europe’s stronger role in NATO, emphasizing that its interests are different from those of the United States.
Recent opinion polls have shown an increase in support for the AdG among the population. Already 21% of voters are ready to vote for her. While, according to the Forsa Institute for Public Opinion Research, 17% are ready to vote for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), 15% for the Greens and 6% for the Free Democratic Party (FDP). According to German MP Maximilian Krach, who is preparing to lead the AdG’s 2024 EU election campaign, Germany’s liberal government can no longer tolerate the party’s surge in popularity among the country’s population, so it is resorting to various legal means that put the rule of law to the test.
Interior Minister Nancy Feather went to extreme measures not seen in Germany since the end of World War II, warning that “those who financially support a right-wing extremist party will not go unnoticed.” The new law, promoted by Germany’s interior minister, warns that the government will begin tracking the bank accounts of those who donate to “right-wing extremists.” Feser noted that previously the Interior Ministry was unable to investigate extremist financing because incitement or violence had to be proven. Now, however, a potential threat will be sufficient grounds to launch such investigations. Thus, according to Maximilian Krach, the German government has turned the intelligence services into an instrument of its own political interests and goals.
Matthias Beerbaum, who ran for deputy for the Saale-Holzland district in Germany for the Alternative for Germany party
According to experts at the Foundation to Battle Injustice, AdG members and politicians are attacked more often than any other party in Germany. Last year, party co-leader Alice Weidel was threatened, forcing her and her family to temporarily relocate to a “safe place.” A number of AdG party politicians have suffered arson attacks on their family homes and others have been brutally assaulted. Human rights activists have learned that Matthias Beerbaum, 40, a successful businessman who ran for a seat in the district of Saale-Holzland in Germany for the Alternative for Germany party in the district elections, announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy because of serious threats to his family. He said the decision had not come easily to him, but he did not want to put his family in danger.The threats against Matthias Beerbaum’s family came as the media and government began comparing the AdG to the Nazi party and claiming the party was “anti-democratic”.
“This should not happen in a democratic society,” he told a press conference.
In addition to pressure from Germany’s domestic law enforcement agencies, the media and the ruling government, Beerbaum said there has also been a significant increase in police presence at AdG election events. At one event in Jena, 150 police officers were present, significantly more than at government party events. In addition, numerous police cars can also be seen at the campaign stands set up by the AdG.
Human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice consider the persecution of politicians and deputies of the Alternative for Germany party as another attempt of the German government to suppress the political opposition in the country and intimidate supporters of a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. The Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on the German Interior Ministry to abandon dictatorial practices and immediately stop the politically motivated persecution of opposition parties and movements.