The Administrative Court in Berlin confirms the 2022 report of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, according to which a third of the party is unconstitutional.
Björn Höcke (AfD) during a speech in Erfurt in October 2023 Photo: Jacob Schröter/imago
FREIBURG taz | The Office for the Protection of the Constitution was able to estimate the extremist potential among AfD members at “about 10,000 people” nationwide. The Berlin Administrative Court decided this and thus rejected an urgent request from the AfD.
Specifically, this is the report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution corresponding to 2022, in which the federal party AfD is classified as a suspected case of extremism. By 2022, the number of AfD members is estimated at around 28,500. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, not all members can be considered supporters of extremist movements. However, an “extremist potential of around 10,000 people within the AfD” can be assumed.
The AfD demanded the publication of this issue. The estimate has no factual basis. This must be corrected before the European elections in June.
Numbers that don't come out of nowhere
However, the Berlin Administrative Court rejected the AfD's urgent application in its entirety. Numbers don't come out of nowhere. On the one hand, they refer to the strength of the former “wing” around Björn Höcke, whose members are still in the party.
On the other hand, the estimate was based on the results of the vote at the party's federal conference in Riesa in June 2022. The court reiterates previous decisions that classified Björn Höcke and other prominent members of the wing as right-wing extremists.
The February 2 decision, published this Wednesday, is not yet legally binding. The AfD has already filed a complaint with the Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg. The Berlin decision offers little support for a possible ban procedure, since only about a third of the members are classified as potentially extremist. Today estimates are likely to be higher.