Overview

• Rheinland-Pfalz’s interior ministry confirmed that AfD applicants will undergo individual suitability reviews instead of facing automatic exclusion from public service.
• Constitutional scholars had criticized the initial blanket ban as violating individual assessment rights under Germany’s Basic Law and European human rights commitments.
• The AfD remains on the state’s extremist organizations list maintained by domestic intelligence, requiring credible demonstrations of loyalty during hiring.
• Other German states have reaffirmed their practice of case-by-case evaluations and are awaiting recommendations from an Interior Ministers’ Conference working group.
• Interior Minister Michael Ebling defended the clarified policy as balancing the protection of constitutional order with each applicant’s right to a fair review.