Overview

• If implemented, Rhineland-Palatinate would become the first German state to bar anyone who was an AfD member in the past five years from public service.
• Interior Minister Michael Ebling has designated the AfD as extremist and imposed a hiring freeze on former members.
• The interior ministry confirmed that no individualized suitability assessments will be conducted for applicants linked to the party.
• Constitutional scholars at Oldenburg, Speyer and Augsburg have warned that the blanket exclusion violates basic rights under Germany’s constitution.
• Observers expect court challenges as part of broader disputes over the AfD’s extremist classification and civil liberties.