The Union coalition has cautioned the Social Democratic Party (SPD) against pushing forward with discussions about a potential ban on the AfD party. Günter Krings, a deputy of the CDU parliamentary group, told Handelsblatt (Friday edition) that the SPD should currently focus on collaborating with the Union to ensure the AfD shrinks politically. He emphasized that if working-class and salaried employees were leaving the SPD for the AfD, clear warning signs should be raised within the party.
Krings’ comments were a reaction to the stance of Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig (SPD), who had maintained that she wished to support a ban procedure against the AfD, viewing it as incorrect to rule it out for political reasons.
Krings countered that the question of banning a party is not merely a political matter; it is fundamentally a legal one. He stressed that the responsible authorities must first compile sufficiently robust facts proving the party’s active hostility towards the constitution.
The CDU politician pointed out that the administrative court in Cologne had temporarily halted the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s classification of the AfD as “certified right-wing extremist” during an expedited process, while the main decision remains pending. This, he argued, made him highly skeptical about whether sufficient evidence was currently available. Krings warned that initiating a ban procedure at this present time “could very easily backfire”.
Nevertheless, Krings did not rule out a potential future ban on the AfD, acknowledging that it is entirely possible the party will become even more radicalized overall-a path it has pursued from the beginning.
According to Article 21 of the Basic Law, parties whose goals or the behavior of their members aims to impair or abolish the free democratic basic order, or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany, are unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court decides on the issue of unconstitutionality. However, the court cannot act on its own initiative; it requires a request for review from the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, or the federal government.
