Protection of the constitution - AfD missing from constitution protection report - criticism from the Greens
The Greens in the Schwerin Parliament have strongly criticized the absence of the AfD in the Constitutional Protection Report of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. "The AfD not appearing in the Constitutional Protection Report of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is hardly believable. In Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony, the AfD is not only considered a suspected extremist case, but a confirmed right-wing extremist, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the AfD has not even appeared yet," lamented Constanze Oehlrich, the Green parliamentarian.
At the presentation of the report, Interior Minister Christian Pegel (SPD) referred to the legal situation in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. According to this, parties or groups that are considered extremist suspects cannot be included in the annual report of the state constitutional protection. "Suspect means that I consider someone to be potentially extremist before I consider them to be securely extremist and before the evidence is clear," Pegel explained. However, a bureau can also be wrong, and publication can lead to stigmatization. He is aware of the controversial debate on this topic in the state and can sympathize with the arguments on both sides. "We must be careful not to end up being the only federal state that cannot report on suspects," said Pegel.
Oehlrich accused the red-red coalition of failure. "SPD and LINKE had the opportunity to change that in the parliament. A corresponding initiative was already submitted by my fraction a year ago - the government fractions rejected it," criticized the opposition politician.
In the Constitutional Protection Report of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, neither the AfD nor its youth organization Young Alternative appear. The Federal Constitutional Protection Agency lists the AfD as a suspect. According to Pegel's statements, the findings from MV will be passed on to the federal authority.
AfD fraction leader Nikolaus Kramer renewed his criticism of the actions of the Constitutional Protection, which he referred to as a "state-controlled domestic intelligence agency." In the report's preface, Minister Pegel mentions that the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Constitutional Protection Agency acted as a partner for the Federal Office in its suspicions against the AfD and Young Alternative (JA). "Although the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Constitutional Protection Law excludes suspicion reporting, we now know that AfD and JA are suspected by Mr. Pegel," explained Kramer.
According to Pegel, militant right-wing extremism continues to pose the greatest threat to the democratic community in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Statewide, approximately 1855 people were assigned to the right-wing extremist scene, about 730 of whom were classified as violent. The proportion of right-wing extremists among the enemies of democracy was, according to measurements, twice as high in the northeast compared to the federal average.
Oehlrich demanded a cross-departmental state strategy against right-wing extremism. The number of right-motivated crimes had increased by 20 percent, and the potential of right-wing extremists and right-wing terrorists had continued to grow. "The previous measures of the state government and the security authorities are obviously not sufficient," she said to explain the reason.
- Despite the strong criticism from Alliance 90/The Greens in Saxony-Anhalt's parliament, the AfD has not been included in their Constitutional Protection Report.
- Christian Pegel, the Interior Minister from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's SPD party, explained that parties considered extremist suspects cannot be included in the annual report.
- Constanze Oehlrich, a Green parliamentarian in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, accused the red-red coalition of failing to include the AfD in the report, despite their suspicion.
- In the Constitutional Protection Report of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, neither the AfD nor its youth organization Young Alternative appear, as they are listed as suspected by the Federal Constitutional Protection Agency.
- Nikolaus Kramer, the AfD fraction leader, renewed his criticism of the Constitutional Protection, referring to it as a "state-controlled domestic intelligence agency."
- Thuringia's parliament, like those in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, considers the AfD a confirmed right-wing extremist, unlike in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
- Oehlrich demanded a cross-departmental state strategy against right-wing extremism, stating that the previous measures have not been sufficient to combat the rise of right-motivated crimes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
