Thousands of people rallied in cities across Germany on Sunday to protest right-wing extremism and demand a ban on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
The demonstrations were organized by the network Together Against the Right and other civil society groups.
In Berlin, protesters gathered at the Brandenburg Gate, with police estimating the crowd at around 4,000 by late afternoon, while organizers claimed approximately 7,500 participants. Around 2,500 demonstrators also took to the streets in Munich, with rallies announced in more than 60 cities nationwide.
Organizers urged political leaders to begin formal proceedings to outlaw the far-right AfD, Germany’s largest opposition party.
In a statement, they argued that the issue of banning the party should be seen not as a political decision, but as a legal matter.
“To clarify this, politicians must find the courage to file a motion for a ban,” it said.
The organizers are calling on the Bundestag and Bundesrat legislative bodies, as well as the new federal government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to initiate ban proceedings against the AfD before the Federal Constitutional Court.
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The AfD is known for its anti-immigration, anti-Muslim, eurosceptic and nationalist rhetoric. The populist party has been a flashpoint in German political life for more than a decade. It has benefited in recent years by tapping into economic discontent and growing unease over refugees.
Not really. The hurdles to banning a party in Germany is very steep, but once taken, all follow-on offsprings can be banned under the same ruling. As long as they share some of the same people or ideologies, they’d be out in no time; plus all funding would have been seized, making it all the harder to regroup and return.
Their supporters would still be there, that’s what we need to solve.
When Pablo Escobar’s cartel got taken down and he was killed, new better organised cartels popped up to take it’s place.
We need to fix Demand, not Supply
If the demand grows to over about 50% of the population there would be nothing to stop them.
Cartels don’t need to be recognized on a federal level to begin operations. A party is a different thing.
Fiar.
But as long as the demand is there parties will shift to align with the voters.
And while that is good I still see the problem in it. Political mobilisation today mostly takes place online and the ideology underpinning AfD, and other parties like them, aren’t going away because the party is banned. Rather, now the story (to the followers) will be that the German establishment is undemocratic and that society is against them. And far-right leaders can - sadly kind of rightfully… - claim that they represent the most popular party, that the government is scared of them, and that they represent the “silent majority”.
Now, it’s not easy because you can’t just let them exist forever either, but if a ban is the main measure the root problem just won’t be adressed. Romania banned Georgescu and now they’ll probably get Simion instead…
And to be clear the true root problem, in my opinion, is the social media misinformation campaigns pushed by China, Russia, and, sadly, USA.