Overview
- Speaking at a Tagesspiegel Ostdeutschland conference in Berlin on Nov. 4, Thuringia’s finance minister Katja Wolf of BSW criticized calls to ban the AfD.
- She labeled prohibition debates “superschädlich” in the East, stressing the region’s particular sensitivity to bans.
- Wolf invoked the Nov. 4, 1989 Alexanderplatz demonstration as a political awakening that shapes how prohibitions are perceived.
- She argued a ban would only create the illusion of a solution, urging sustained substantive engagement carried out with caution and calm.
- Wolf said AfD politicians seek to disparage democracy and delegitimize election results.