Extremism: remove AfD members from civil service? Reul skeptical

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul warns after the AfD classified as secure right-wing extremist of quick shots against party members in the civil service. “If you want to remove someone from the public service, you have to prove that this person has violated their duty of loyalty to the state,” Reul (CDU) told the WDR. “And there is a reason for membership in an organization – but is that enough? I don’t think that you will see. In any case, it has to be checked individually.”

The individual case inspection also applies to prospective civil servants, i.e. for people in the legal clerkship, said Reul. There is no automatism.

It became known on Friday that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD as secured right -wing extremist. Since then, possible consequences have been discussed. Reul emphasized that the NRW authorities would now thoroughly evaluate the documentation of the Federal Constitutional Protection. It is checked which consequences the country can draw. “I’m not a friend of quick shots,” emphasized Reul. In the end, possible government measures should also have existed in court.

Reul reserved with a possible AfD ban procedure

From the point of view of the CDU politician, this should also apply to a possible AfD ban. “One by one: First the facts have to be checked. Then they have to be sufficient. And then, then, then, politics must weigh whether it is clever, reasonable, yes or no,” said Reul. “I think prohibition is an important method, but there are also others. The best thing is to argue, it is best to prove that politics can cope without the AfD.”