The Office for the Protection of the Constitution can assess the AfD youth organization as definitely extremist. According to a decision by the Cologne Administrative Court, the Junge Alternative is acting against the principle of democracy. Four members of the organization sit in the Hessian state parliament.
Safe extremist efforts – this is how the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution can classify the AfD’s youth organization, Junge Alternative (JA). This was decided by the Cologne Administrative Court, as it announced on Tuesday.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, based in Cologne, had previously classified the youth organization as a suspected case.
“Völkisch-descended folk term”
The administrative court’s justification states, among other things, that the JA continues to represent “a ethnic concept of ethnicity”. Preserving the German people in their ethnic structure and, if possible, excluding “ethnic strangers” are a central political idea of the AfD youth organization. This represents a violation of human dignity.
In addition, there is massive anti-immigrant and anti-Islam and anti-Muslim agitation in the JA. Asylum seekers and migrants are generally suspected and disparaged.
Court: Against the principles of democracy
The JA acts against the principles of democracy at all political levels. The Federal Republic of Germany is equated with dictatorial regimes, “particularly the Nazi regime and the GDR.” The youth organization’s connections with organizations classified as anti-constitutional, such as the Identitarian Movement, would also reinforce the suspicions.
The decision is not yet legally binding. The AfD and its youth organization can lodge a complaint with the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court.
Four YES members in the Hessian state parliament
The number of JA members in Hesse is estimated at around 50 in the latest report from the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution from 2022. The state office assesses the Junge Alternative Hessen as right-wing extremist and is monitoring the youth organization.
In the Hessian state parliament, which was reconstituted in January, there are four members of the Young Alternatives within the 27-member AfD parliamentary group. As a spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group confirmed to the hr on Tuesday, these are MPs Gerhard Bärsch and Pascal Schleich from the Vogelsberg district and Jochen Kurt Roos and Maximilian Müger from the Offenbach district.
The chairman of the state parliamentary group, Robert Lambrou, supported the JA at the state party conference in November in Karben (Wetterau). “The Young Alternative is an integral part of the AfD,” said Lambrou.
Video post
Video 03:48 min. | 05.01.24, 7:30 p.m. |hessenschau
Hessian state parliament: The new AfD parliamentary group
Video End of video post
Basis for ban proceedings
The classification as confirmed extremist is the basis for a ban procedure. Since the JA is an association and not a party organization, it could be banned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
“Today’s decision clearly states that we are dealing with massive contempt for humanity, with racism, with hatred against Muslims and with attacks on our democracy,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Tuesday in a reaction to the court’s decision . “We will continue to take action against this using the means of the rule of law,” she added.
Further information
FAQ: Is it possible to ban the Junge Alternative?
What does the Cologne Administrative Court’s decision mean for possible ban proceedings? Assessments by Kolja Schwartz from the ARD legal department at tagesschau.de.
End of further information
Protests against right-wing extremism have been going on for weeks
For weeks, tens of thousands of people across Germany and Hesse have been demonstrating for democracy and against right-wing extremism and racism. According to the police, around 19,000 people only came together on Frankfurt’s Römerberg on Monday.
One reason for the rallies is research by the Correctiv network into a meeting of right-wing extremists in Potsdam in November, which was also attended by high-ranking AfD members. The slogan “remigration” was about a strategy for the mass resettlement of migrants.
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