PULSE POINTS:
What Happened: Members of the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have been banned from taking part in overseas business trips by a state government after being declared a right-wing extremist organization.
Who’s Involved: State of Hesse, Alternative for Germany (AfD) members.
Where & When: Hesse’s Europe Minister, Manfred Pentz, announced the exclusion on May 4.
Key Quote: “My business trips abroad are aimed at promoting this location. I can’t achieve that if I travel with representatives of a secure right-wing extremist party.” — Minister Manfred Pentz.
Impact: The move is part of the broader fallout from Germany’s domestic spy agency declaring the AfD an extremist group, despite the fact that it recently placed second in the country’s federal elections.
IN FULL:
A state government in Germany has banned members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) from taking part in foreign business trips. The move comes after Germany’s domestic spy agency declared the AfD a right-wing extremist organisation last week.
The German state of Hesse announced it would not include AfD members in foreign business trips due to the labelling of the party as extremists. The state’s Europe Minister, Manfred Pentz, announced the exclusion of the AfD members on May 4. Pentz stated, “After the classification of the AfD, I decided not to invite representatives of this party to my foreign business trips for the time being.”
The minister argued that having the AfD on trips dealing with countries like Israel would harm Germany’s reputation, despite the AfD having many pro-Israel members. “My business trips abroad are aimed at promoting [Hesse]. I can’t achieve that if I travel with representatives of a secure right-wing extremist party,” he insisted.
Germany’s actions to declare the AfD an extremist group mean that the domestic spy agency would be able to surveil party members. The move could also lead to the AfD being banned in the future.
Members of the Trump administration have outright condemned the moves against the AfD. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated, “Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise.”
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