Overview

• The Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz’s designation of the AfD as a “gesichert rechtsextremistische Bestrebung” is suspended while the Cologne administrative court decides on the party’s urgent legal challenge.
• North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister-President Hendrik Wüst said a ban could proceed if the AfD is proven to actively oppose the democratic order and can realistically succeed, but he insisted on awaiting the court’s verdict first.
• Lower Saxony’s Olaf Lies signalled support for a ban if verfassungsfeindliche Bestrebungen are confirmed, whereas Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt warned against legal action and advised politically marginalising the AfD.
• The Greens have urged state premiers to initiate formal ban proceedings, while most Union politicians remain sceptical of pursuing a party ban.
• At their mid-June conference, federal and state interior ministers agreed to form a working group to examine the fallout of a confirmation of the AfD’s extremist classification, including civil service and weapons permit implications.