Extremism and AfD: How terroristic is the party really?

At the beginning of the week, German security authorities arrested eight suspected militant right-wing extremists from the so-called “Saxon Separatists” and six are in custody. And the accusation from the Federal Prosecutor General now sounds very familiar:

This is reminiscent of recent processes. To the Reich citizens group “United Patriots”, for example, a woman and four men who have been standing before the Koblenz Higher Regional Court since mid-2023. Also to the so-called “Reuss Group” around Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuss. Since this spring, 26 suspected conspirators have had to answer for one of the largest terror trials in the history of the Federal Republic. The accusation in both cases: attempted coup.

What unites these and other groups is their contempt for democracy in Germany. It is also noticeable that a number of members sympathize with the AfD’s stance, at least. One of the defendants from the “Reuss Group” is the former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann. The “Saxon separatists” now arrested are also said to include a local politician from the AfD and two members of their youth organization.

The AfD’s federal chairman, Tino Chrupalla, quickly distanced himself from the group. The party now wants to exclude the three terror suspects, as it announced on Wednesday.

The latest case is a reminder that the AfD and its supporters have a problematic relationship with violence. Some of its politicians have been convicted of relevant allegations. One is said to have hit a demonstrator with his car in Bonn. Some are challenging the judge’s rulings. A study recently came to the conclusion that supporters of the AfD are clearly more likely to tolerate political violence than voters of any other party. In numbers: 23 percent of AfD supporters clearly approve of violence. Together with those who at least partially agree with violence, the figure is 52 percent.

One of the disturbing messages of the current case lies in the age of the arrested “Saxon separatists” and their background. As Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution Thomas Haldenwang said, some are known from the spectrum of the New Right, right-wing extremist parties or the neo-Nazi scene. They are in their early to mid 20s.