The Cologne administrative court has made an urgent ruling that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution cannot yet classify the AfD as a proven right‑wing extremist movement until the main proceedings are finished. In response, Thuringian Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD) is calling for a ban on certain state branches of the party.
“I remain firmly convinced that the AfD is anti‑constitutional and unlawful, and therefore the tools of a defensive democracy should be applied” Maier told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Friday editions). At least the state association of the AfD in Thuringia-which has already been legally determined to be an anti‑constitutional movement-remains subject to this view.
He added that any ban on this and/or other state branches that have so far been designated as anti‑constitutional must, in his opinion, be reviewed by the Federal Constitutional Court. “I therefore consider a formal application to remain necessary” he said.
The Cologne court’s decision came in emergency interim relief. “This is a provisional decision; the main case must still be decided” Maier explained. The court, meanwhile, made it very clear that “there is sufficient certainty that there are within the AfD attempts directed against the liberal democratic basic order”. “The strong suspicion therefore remains explicitly intact” the SPD politician said.