Berlin’s Justice Minister, Felor Badenberg, has criticized the debate on banning the AfD, calling it a “short circuit” between the legal and political aspects.
In an interview with the Tagesspiegel, Badenberg emphasized the need for a clear distinction between the legal and political aspects of the debate. She warned that it is premature to discuss a ban on the AfD, as the legal requirements for such a move have not been met.
Badenberg, who was the vice-president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution until her appointment as Justice Minister in 2023, has experience in assessing the AfD’s extremist tendencies. The office had previously classified the party as a “right-wing extremist suspicion” and later as “highly likely to be extremist” but a court case in Cologne has put the process on hold.
The Justice Minister stressed that, from a legal perspective, the AfD is currently only considered a “suspicion of extremism” and that a ban would require a finding of “enmity to the constitution.” She pointed out that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has a three-tiered system, with the highest level being “secured extremism.”
Badenberg noted that, for a ban, the party’s enmity to the constitution would need to be proven and that individual statements or remarks are not sufficient. Official party positions, such as the party program or party conference decisions, are more significant and the AfD has, in her view, made some progress in recent years.
While the Justice Minister is not opposed to a ban in principle, she emphasized the need for a high likelihood of success and warned that a failed ban could have the opposite effect, strengthening the AfD’s position and allowing it to play the victim.