Thuringian parliament holds first public hearing on potential ban of far-right AfD

Location: Erfurt, Thuringia

Overview

For the first time, a German parliamentary committee has held a public hearing on a potential ban of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The hearing took place on Wednesday afternoon in the plenary hall of the Thuringian state parliament, with a full visitors' gallery.

Expert Testimony

Chan-jo Jun: "The AfD Must Change Radically"

After the hearing, lawyer Chan-jo Jun stood outside the plenary hall, catching his breath. Members of the Justice Committee had questioned him as a legal expert for roughly an hour and a half.

Jun expressed surprise at the level of detail in the questions. He also noted: "The AfD MPs seemed so desperate that the path to the rule of law, which I wanted to outline for them, presented such a great dilemma."

At the outset, Jun stated that the AfD could only avoid a ban if it underwent radical change. Specifically, the party would need to seriously and noticeably distance itself from anti-constitutional positions.

Christian Conrad: Warning Against the Process

Lawyer Christian Conrad, who has represented the AfD for years, spoke next. He warned that even the public debate about a ban could deter voters. At a certain point, police could conduct searches of the party in question. Therefore, the process would be damaging to the party even if it ultimately failed to result in a ban. Conrad rejected a procedure conducted under the motto "the journey is the destination."

Additional Witnesses

The committee invited a total of eight experts. Later in the evening, actor Hape Kerkeling and former CDU politician and former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen were also scheduled to speak.

Background

The hearing was initiated based on a motion by The Left party (Die Linke). In May of the previous year, the party submitted a draft resolution calling on the state government to advocate in the Bundesrat for "initiating a ban procedure pursuant to Article 21, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law" against the AfD.

The trigger was the classification of the AfD as "confirmed right-wing extremist" by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in early May 2025. The AfD filed an emergency appeal against this classification with the Cologne Administrative Court and, after ten months of preliminary review, prevailed in February. The court found no "certainty" that the AfD federal party was directed against the free democratic basic order, though it noted that a "strong suspicion" of a "confirmed extremist endeavor" was substantiated by numerous statements.

Political Reactions

Katharina König-Preuss (The Left)

Before the hearing, Katharina König-Preuss, interior policy spokesperson for The Left in Thuringia, stated the goal was "to objectify the debate." She said the aim was not to preempt a ban procedure, but rather "to responsibly examine the legal requirements and social consequences."

Sascha Schlösser (AfD)

The AfD held a brief press conference before the hearing. Sascha Schlösser, justice policy spokesperson for the Thuringian AfD parliamentary group, thanked The Left "for this grand stage," arguing that a ban procedure would strengthen the party.

During the hearing, Schlösser asked Jun whether he knew that, if the AfD were banned, Schlösser would lose his seat in the Thuringian state parliament even if he left the party during the proceedings.

Key Takeaways

• Jun's assessment: The evidence of anti-constitutional activity is sufficient to initiate a ban procedure.
• Possible outcomes: Jun stated that either the AfD would be banned, or it would change by deradicalizing and democratizing. He considered the scenario of the AfD surviving a ban procedure while remaining anti-constitutional to be unlikely.
• On distancing: Jun emphasized the need for the AfD to distance itself from individuals who advocate anti-constitutional positions, citing a "remigration concept" that envisions excluding or deporting German citizens as an example.