Scholz opposes ban on far-right Alternative for Germany

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday said he currently opposes banning the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

He said domestic intelligence services should continue to monitor the party and collect material but warned that authorities must be “very careful with a ban procedure.”

“The worst thing would be a procedure that you apply for that lasts several years (…) and then it might go wrong in the end,” Scholz said at a constituency meeting in the city of Potsdam, near Berlin.

Under German law, either the parliament or the government can apply to the Federal Constitutional Court for a ban on a specific party.

Earlier this month, a group of more than 100 lawmakers from various parties in the Bundestag – Germany’s lower house – submitted an application for a ban procedure. It remains to be seen whether the measure can win a majority.

Most recently, 17 constitutional law experts wrote to the Bundestag’s internal affairs and legal committees, expressing the view that a ban procedure would have a chance of success.