As of: March 1, 2024, 6:21 p.m
By: Nils Hinsberger
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The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt has been classified as right-wing extremist by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Now the party wants to reform the state organ.
The Interior Minister disagrees.
Magdeburg - The state association of the AfD Saxony-Anhalt has called for a reform of the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The party's leading motion states that it should be renamed the state secret service and that the practice of reporting on the protection of the constitution should be discontinued, reported the
German Press Agency
(dpa).
The proposal will be discussed next Sunday at the state party conference in Magdeburg.
The state Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD as a right-wing extremist in November 2023.
The reason for the assessment by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is said to have been several anti-Muslim, racist and anti-Semitic statements by members of the party, reported the
dpa
.
The Saxony-Anhalt AfD was already classified as a suspected case in 2021.
Until its decision in 2023, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had collected information that was not compatible with human dignity, democracy and the rule of law, said Jochen Hollmann, head of department at the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt.
AfD Saxony-Anhalt calls the constitutional protection report “empty of content”
In the AfD's lead motion, the party accuses the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of endangering democracy by fighting the opposition.
The state association would not violate the free democratic basic order, it says in the lead motion.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution report only contains “empty phrases” and is being used to combat the opposition in Germany.
The AfD chairman in Saxony-Anhalt, Martin Reichardt.
The state association of the AfD is calling for reform of the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
© Bodo Schackow/picture alliance/dpa
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution justified the classification of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt using a few examples.
Leading representatives of the party are said to have used terms such as “invaders”, “intruders” or “culturally foreign supply migrants” to defame migrants.
The party also aims to abolish parliamentary democracy.
Hollmann accused the AfD of wanting to attack the population's trust in the democratic principle of the Federal Republic and its institutions.
“We live in a robust democracy.
“The Office for the Protection of the Constitution acts as an early warning system,” said Hollmann.
“He warns the public about anti-constitutional efforts so that no one can say they didn’t know.”
Interior Minister wants to sharpen “instruments to protect against extremism”.
In a speech in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, the state interior minister, Dr.
Tamara Zieschang (CDU) rejected the AfD's allegations.
The fact that the federal and state governments have constitutional protection is an “expression of a robust democracy.”
She emphasized this in her speech because “the narrative of government protection is already making the rounds.”
Instead of weakening the protection of the constitution as demanded by the AfD, Zieschang is open to “sharpening the existing instruments to protect against extremism”.
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Right-wing extremism in Germany “undoubtedly represents the greatest threat to our free, democratic basic order,” said Zieschang.
“That is why it is right and important to fight right-wing extremism consistently and with all available constitutional means.” (nhi)