‘Enemies of the constitution’: German authorities take aim at far-right party’s youth wing
The views of the AfD’s youth wing in Bremen have been described as ‘pure racism’
German authorities said Monday they’re stepping up surveillance of the far-right Alternative for Germany amid growing concern the third-largest party in parliament is closing ranks with extremist groups.
Activists for AfD, the nationalist party’s German acronym, marched in the eastern city of Chemnitz alongside leading figures in anti-migrant group PEGIDA and members of the area’s militant neo-Nazi scene in the past week, after two refugees were arrested in a German citizen’s fatal stabbing.
“Parts of AfD are openly acting against the constitution,” Justice Minister Katarina Barley told the RND media group. “We need to treat them like other enemies of the constitution and observe them accordingly.”
Boris Pistorius, Lower Saxony’s interior minister, said the decision to keep an eye on the AfD’s local youth wing, was unrelated to the recent events in Chemnitz. It was based on Young Alternative’s anti-democratic goals and links to the Identitarian Movement, a white nationalist group that has been under state surveillance for four years, Pistorius said.
His counterpart in Bremen, Ulrich Maeurer, described the views of AfD’s youth wing in the city state as “pure racism”.
