Reassessment of the AfD: Constitutional lawyers: Make the reassessment of the AfD public

The Berlin constitutional lawyer Ulrich Battis sees no reason in the early federal election to withhold a reassessment of the AfD that was originally announced for publication this year. “The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution must make its assessment of the AfD public as soon as possible,” said the lawyer of the German Press Agency. When asked, he explained that this definitely meant a date before the new election planned for February 23, 2025.

Last week, security circles said that due to the early elections, the announced reassessment of the AfD by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution would only be completed after the federal election next year. The reason for this was that restraint was required in the election environment. However, the observation of the party as a suspected right-wing extremist case will continue.

Haldenwang had promised information before the end of the year

The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, announced in October: “A decision can be expected this year.” At that time, however, it was still assumed that the election would take place next September. Haldenwang no longer runs the content secret service. The reason for this is that he wants to run for the CDU in the federal election.

In May, the Münster Higher Administrative Court ruled that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had rightly classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case, which allows the use of intelligence resources such as surveillance. The legal battle is still ongoing. Theoretically, three scenarios are conceivable: Either the secret service’s suspicions have not been confirmed, then the domestic intelligence service would stop monitoring the AfD as a suspected case. “I think this variant is extremely unlikely,” said Haldenwang in October.

Or the suspicion is confirmed. This would then result in the entire party being classified as having definite extremist tendencies. However, further observation as a suspected case with an appropriate justification would also be possible – for example if it is not possible to clearly say in which direction the AfD is developing due to internal processes in the party that have not yet been completed.

The upcoming reassessment is not about the government’s public relations work during the election campaign, but rather about the legal mandate of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said Battis. Part of this mission is to inform the public about extremist efforts and activities. “The law does not grant the authority any discretion in carrying out the statutory mandate,” he added.