Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier has accused the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party of launching a systemic assault on the foundations of German democracy. In an interview with “Welt” Maier warned of a dangerous complacency within the political landscape, stating that Germany risks sleepwalking into a disaster unless the nation recognizes the “destructive force” the AfD represents.
Maier’s most scathing critique centered on the party’s controversial “remigration” concept, a policy he characterized as a violation of human dignity. The concept reportedly involves the deportation of individuals deemed to not fit the AfD’s narrow definition of the German “people’s state”. He specifically highlighted the ambitions of Thuringia’s AfD leader, Björn Höcke, who has publicly discussed transforming the Erfurt airport into a “remigration hub”. Höcke’s rhetoric, suggesting the possibility of dispensing with 20 percent of the population – a proportion closely aligned with those of migrant background – has fueled intense concern.
Maier alleges that the escalating radicalization within the AfD is actively endorsed by party leadership. He pointed to AfD co-leader Alice Weidel’s increasing public support for Höcke’s statements and actions, predicting a further consolidation of power at the upcoming federal party conference in Erfurt. He anticipates a move toward what he describes as a “complete takeover.
Beyond the remigration concept, Maier also criticized the volume and nature of security-related inquiries submitted by AfD parliamentarians in the Thuringian state legislature. He noted an abnormally high number of inquiries, comprising thousands of questions and sub-questions over the past year, often failing to lead to substantive parliamentary discussion. While explicitly dismissing accusations of espionage, Maier expressed serious reservations about the AfD’s motives in publicly retrieving sensitive information, questioning who benefits from the dissemination of such data.
Reinforcing his earlier calls for the party’s prohibition, Maier asserted that all necessary conditions for a legal challenge exist. He referenced the comparatively narrow margin by which a previous ban proposal failed in the Bundestag and indicated growing support for the idea even within the conservative Union parties. Maier’s remarks underscore a deepening political standoff and raise pivotal questions about the future viability of Germany’s democratic institutions in the face of the AfD’s increasingly assertive agenda.
