AFD declared extremist Party in Germany by BND

[mindlight]

Elons Musk's favorite German Party the AFD has been declared an extremist organisation by the countries intelligence service. By that they mean that its undemocratic. The debate now is whether a party that has support of nearly a quarter of the population will be banned or not.

The NPD (the actual Nazi Party) has not been banned because it is politically insignificant. The AFD has a lot of support but its policies are regarded as unconstitutional and undemocratic, hence the call for the ban. A older version of the Nazis and also the KPD (Communists) were previously banned as parties.

Rubio has denounced Germany as a sort of tyranny as a result of this.

US criticizes Germany for labeling AfD 'extremist' – DW – 05/03/2025

Trump administration officials have condemned the move by Germany's domestic intelligence agency to designate the far-right AfD party an extremist group, setting off a diplomatic row between the two NATO allies.

www.dw.com

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Elons Musk's favorite German Party the AFD has been declared an extremist organisation by the countries intelligence service. By that they mean that its undemocratic. The debate now is whether a party that has support of nearly a quarter of the population will be banned or not.

The NPD (the actual Nazi Party) has not been banned because it is politically insignificant. The AFD has a lot of support but its policies are regarded as unconstitutional and undemocratic, hence the call for the ban. A older version of the Nazis and also the KPD (Communists) were previously banned as parties.

Rubio has denounced Germany as a sort of tyranny as a result of this.

US criticizes Germany for labeling AfD 'extremist' – DW – 05/03/2025

Trump administration officials have condemned the move by Germany's domestic intelligence agency to designate the far-right AfD party an extremist group, setting off a diplomatic row between the two NATO allies.

www.dw.com

I agree with Rubio, it's a sad day if you can't have a Fascist Nazi inspired political party in Germany of all places.

 

[Nithavela]

Should have been forbidden years ago. I fear that at this point it might already be too late.

 

[BCP1928]

I agree with Rubio, it's a sad day if you can't have a Fascist Nazi inspired political party in Germany of all places.

Well, the Republicans can't have a political party to the left of them being branded as "far right extremist" even if it did happen in another country. It makes MAGAism look like what it really is.

 

[mindlight]

Should have been forbidden years ago. I fear that at this point it might already be too late.

Don't you think it is a little inconsistent? The NPD are actual anti-semitic Nazis while the AFD seem torn between anti-Islam/pro Zionist, a milder form of anti-semitism and unhinged confusion. If they ban the AFD, shouldn't they also ban the NPD to be consistent?

Also, if they ban a party which polls suggest is backed by a quarter of the population, that has obvious implications for democracy.
The British approach, before REFORM, used to work very well here. The agenda of new parties was simply absorbed into the existing parties, and the voters drifted away from the alternatives. The AFD agenda is anti-immigration and anti-EU in essence, so maybe restrictions on immigration and a healthy approach to EU reform should be enough to displace it and restore democratic sanity to the process. Simply banning the party sublimates the stupidity into something more sinister and uncontrollable.

The UK constituency party system ensured minorities only ever got localised successes and never a real breakthrough. Part of the problem here is the German PR system combined with an undemocratic stupidity in the old East Germany that was informed by atheistic communism and old-style racist reactions to immigrants.

It concerns me that in both my countries right now unhinged nutters are becoming mainstream at the same time as the mainstream is itself unhinged from the values and religion that made it so successful in the first place. That, combined with foreign interference and new threats of trade wars, actual wars, and the strategic mistakes of the last 30 years vis-à-vis defense spending, American isolationism, and the emergence of a multipolar world and Chinese trade, makes a perfect storm of troubles.

 

[Nithavela]

Don't you think it is a little inconsistent? The NPD are actual anti-semitic Nazis while the AFD seem torn between anti-Islam/pro Zionist, a milder form of anti-semitism and unhinged confusion. If they ban the AFD, shouldn't they also ban the NPD to be consistent?

The answer to this question is in your own OP.

 

[mindlight]

Well, the Republicans can't have a political party to the left of them being branded as "far right extremist" even if it did happen in another country. It makes MAGAism look like what it really is.

Comparing German and US political parties – DW – 09/25/2017

Translating Germany's political parties into American equivalents is a difficult but revealing proposition. Where would Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, fall in the German landscape? DW maps it out.

www.dw.com

 

[BCP1928]

Comparing German and US political parties – DW – 09/25/2017

Translating Germany's political parties into American equivalents is a difficult but revealing proposition. Where would Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, fall in the German landscape? DW maps it out.

www.dw.com

Pretty even handed account, as one expects from DW. As to MAGA vs, AfD, I think MAGA still wins by a nose with a stronger extremist religion component. DW is a little behind the times on the Berniecrats. Bernie and AoC have shifted their sights a little in response to current events and are now promoting free-market capitalism as an alternative to MAGAnomics.