Germany’s interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Tuesday that he opposes banning the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.
Speaking at a press conference for the domestic intelligence service’s annual report on domestic threats, Dobrindt said, “The AfD must be dealt with politically,” adding that parties of the “political centre should govern in a way that sees the AfD off.”
The AfD won over 20% in February’s general election—its strongest national result to date—largely campaigning against illegal migration. However, Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the BfV, has labelled it “extremist” in a decision critics have called politically motivated.
The label is currently suspended pending court appeal, but leftist and centrist politicians have used it as an excuse to call for the party to be outlawed.
However, on Tuesday, Dobrindt said the evidence presented by the BfV was “not sufficient to justify the process of a ban,” and questioned whether the AfD posed a grave threat to democracy.
Germany last banned a political party in 1956, and legal barriers remain high.
