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.

 

[NBB]

Remember that you are a 'far right extremist' just for having traditional moral values for them.

 

[Nithavela]

Remember that you are a 'far right extremist' just for having traditional moral values for them.

Nonsense, unless your traditional moral values include xenophobia.

Maybe they do?

 

[NBB]

Nonsense, unless your traditional moral values include xenophobia.

Maybe they do?

idk much about that party, from what i read that party is more leftist than the usual right wing party 20 30 years ago.
And about calling everyone a nazi, because they are traditional, you just have to be a bit observant and read the leftists news is not hard to notice.

 

[Nithavela]

idk much about that party

Then why blast out your opinion?

 

[NBB]

Then why blast out your opinion?

Because it would not be strange they call parties nazi for just disagreeing with them, is what they have been doing.

Leftist media calls Matt Walsh a far right extremist, idk to me he seeems like normal catholic dude with normal values, but today he stands out for speaking about his values in public, which is crazy since he just would be a regular person some decades ago.

 

[Hans Blaster]

Because it would not be strange they call parties nazi for just disagreeing with them, is what they have been doing.

It would since there are actual reasons for it. Perhaps you could take the time to find out instead of assuming stuff.

Leftist media calls Matt Walsh a far right extremist, idk to me he seeems like normal catholic dude with normal values, but today he stands out for speaking about his values in public, which is crazy since he just would be a regular person some decades ago.

He's pretty far-right, but he's not a nazi. He does make films with rhetorical questions for titles. Not sure what that tells us.

 

[mindlight]

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.

I am not sure that "right and left" here in Germany translates very well into the Anglo-sphere. Parties on the right here are just as committed to a big state, big bureaucracy mentality while right-wing politics in the USA or UK is more about reducing the size of the state. Parties on the right are more likely to be supporters of the traditional family versus LGTBQ and the pronoun brigade for example. But they have little understanding of what Jesus said about care for the poor, the sick and the old. People on the right are more likely to be racist against Muslims and those on the left are racist against Jews so the old labels do not fit very well. German politics needs a reality check and I hope that Trump and Putin are just what they need. The internalized conversations about German well-being rationalized and incomprehensible to those outside the country need to give way to Real Politik in a new world. A new commitment to military spending, a desire for more efficiency from the state bureaucracies, and the cultivation of an enterprise culture is a part of this but so also a recognition that the environment and welfare must always balance the growth of power, riches and capabilities. German social democracy has been a massive success that has lost its way in recent decades, indeed perhaps since unification. The country needs a spiritual revival and a restoration of national purpose in a more uncertain world.