Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been declared ‘right-wing extremist’ who are ‘against the free democratic order’ by Germany’s domestic intelligence service. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) can now increase its investigation of the AfD, including tapping their phones, intercepting their electronic communications, and recruiting informants within the party. Public servants, especially those in the police or military, may find themselves fired unless they leave the party. Members of the party may find themselves barred from gun ownership. Some in public sector television are calling for the AfD to be kept off the airwaves. The AfD is being treated as though it were a dangerous fringe group, when in fact it is the second-largest party in Germany.
It will probably also mean the AfD is denied more of the generous funding that the German taxpayer provides political parties, putting them at a deliberate disadvantage. Many in the left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) and some in the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) want to push for the AfD to be banned entirely, which has already been discussed in parliament.
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