Former Commissioner for Eastern Europe sees good chances for an AfD ban

The former Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Europe, Marco Wanderwitz, is continuing to push for an AfD ban and believes it has a good chance of success. The CDU politician from Saxony told the German Press Agency that the failed NPD ban proceedings at the Federal Constitutional Court should not be used as a yardstick.

"You have to look at the AfD as it is today. The question is: Are they right-wing extremists and are they aggressively fighting the free democratic basic order? I say: the AfD is now what the NPD used to be. It couldn't be more right-wing extremist. But the AfD is neither riddled with V-people nor insignificant. In my view, an AfD ban procedure would have excellent chances." Wanderwitz is a lawyer and member of the Bundestag.

Three state associations "definitely right-wing extremist"

He pointed out that three state associations - in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia - have now been classified as definitely right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. "I also assume that it is only a matter of time before the party as a whole is classified as right-wing extremist," said Wanderwitz.

Politicians must make a decision

The political parties now have a duty to lead the debate and come to a decision. In order to initiate a ban procedure in Karlsruhe, it must be requested either by the Bundestag, Bundesrat or the federal government. He was therefore pleased that the topic had recently come back into focus, said Wanderwitz.

In response to the statement by his successor in office, Carsten Schneider, that a ban procedure would only lead to greater solidarity with the AfD and that it would be better to confront the party in terms of content, Wanderwitz said: "If we were in a situation where we didn't have major international crises, where we didn't have a poorly functioning federal government, where we had relative political bliss, then I could understand that. But he stands in a burning house and says: we'll keep talking. I think that's fatal. Time is working for the AfD. In my view, this is also an attempt to avoid this social conflict."

He is aware that he is in the minority with his position in the CDU. "It's still a minority opinion. I am working to ensure that this becomes the majority opinion in my party and in politics as a whole, because I believe it is urgently needed. And thank God I'm not alone."

Getting AfD voters out of the bubble

In his view, an AfD ban would give him some breathing space. "It remains laborious. I believe that we will only reach some of the AfD voters, who are protest voters, if we put the AfD on the back burner. The vast majority of people who are currently voting AfD are in a bubble that we can no longer get them out of, and this bubble has to burst first." Only then can we achieve more again with political education, for example.