AfD in the Bundestag calls for a ban on “Antifa”, indymedia.de and Roter Hilfe!

The AfD application - a hodgepodge of demands

It wasn't until October 6th, 2026 that the AfD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, including notorious right-wing extremists likeMartin Hess,Gottfried Curio,Bernd Baumann,Maximilian Krah, an eight-page motion for a resolution (asPDF), in which she puts forward 24 demands.

The hodgepodge of demands ranges from a “significant increase in personnel in the departments of the security authorities responsible for clarification and investigation in the area of left-wing extremism”, to “regular preparation of internal situation reports by the BKA on the current threat situation from violence-oriented left-wing extremists with series and pattern analysis” to the demand for “permanent evacuation of all occupied scene objects, (…) such as “Rigaer Straße 94” in Berlin or the “Red Flora” in Hamburg, which were illegally taken into possession by left-wing extremists and from which crimes were repeatedly committed or which serve as a hideout for left-wing extremist violent criminals”.

But also a “ban and shutdown of the website de.indymedia.org as a successor platform to linksunten.indymedia.org”, the “consistent review of bans according to the association law in relation to left-wing extremist groups that have come together under the name “Antifa” or “Anti-Fascist Action”” and a “ban on the Rote Hilfe e.V. (RH), as these nationwide have “left-wing extremist and therefore unconstitutional goals pursued by varying degrees of intensity.

Justification of the AfD

The beginning of the AfD's application is a reference to "the events surrounding the Berlin election winner DIE LINKE, in whose election party representatives from the clan milieu and Islamists took part", these would "represent only the tip of an iceberg that Germany is heading towards unchecked in terms of security policy". It then goes on to a wild tour de force, from a “targeted arson attack on the power grid in the Berlin Steglitz-Zehlendorf area at the beginning of the year,” which is attributed to the “Vulkan Group,” to another “attack (…) in June of this year in Reutlingen,” which was comprehensively reported on “the left-wing extremist website “Switch Off.”” Not to be missed are “the conspiratorially prepared attacks by the so-called “Antifa-Ost” or also called the “hammer gang” because they “show the full extent of the escalation: targeted attacks on people in which victims have suffered the most serious injuries.”

The RAF is also mentioned because “the hammer gang trials are (…) the most extensive trials against left-wing extremists since the RAF trials almost 50 years ago,” according to the AfD.

Other key words include "abuse of freedom of assembly by left-wing extremists", combating the "dangers of left-wing militancy" by means of the above-mentioned bans, because, according to the AfD MPs, "in order to stop these undesirable developments, left-wing extremist structures must also be dismantled. Proceedings to ban associations against Antifa structures that legitimize violence must be examined as a matter of priority and consistently implemented."

The Rote Hilfe is particularly a thorn in the AfD's side because, according to the justification for the application, the Rote Hilfe is "with around 14,400 members and around 50 local groups nationwide, the largest and one of the most important groups in German left-wing extremism. It not only offers a framework of legitimation for the commission of criminal and violent crimes." In particular, she advocates and supports “the use of violence as a means of political debate.”

Conclusion and outlook

The Bundestag will discuss the AfD's motion in plenary session on October 8th, 2026 for around an hourpublicly deliberated. It will probably then be referred to the committees. Even if this time the application will not be successful.

But at the state level, there will soon be a threat of measures within the framework of the state's competences, specifically in Saxony-Anhalt. Sodemanded the AfD parliamentary groupin the Magdeburg state parliament, at the beginning of this year, "left-wing extremist violent groups of people and networks in Saxony-Anhalt, which define themselves in particular as "Antifa" or "Antifascist Action", to investigate, prosecute and issue bans under association law, as well as to qualify their symbols and slogans as means of propaganda within the meaning of the criminal code".PDF).

The AfD represents “the view that the “Antifa” or “Antifascist Action” are terrorist organizations within the meaning of Section 129a of the Criminal Code” (loc. cit., page 2).

Ulrich Siegmund writes in the application submitted by him as the parliamentary group leader at the time: “Groups under the self-designation “Antifa” are not phantoms. They have supra-locally organized structures that go beyond spontaneous activities. They have communication platforms and legal aid and financing networks. Their appearance is characterized by recurring campaigns, coordinated mobilization and shared symbolism. Consistently combating these structures using the means of the rule of law instead of ignoring them is the task of the law enforcement authorities and the intelligence services, whose record is too poor to suggest serious prosecution or even just “pressure on the scene” (loc. cit., page 2).

In an alternative motion, the CDU, SPD and FDP called for “a decisive rejection of any extremist endeavors - be they from the left - or through right-wing extremist activities (…)” (asPDF).

As a result, concrete criminal and secret service prosecutions are likely to increase significantly in Germany in the coming months and years, so that it will be essential to work on counter-strategies.

File:  AfD_Bundestag.pdf Landtag_Sachsen_Anhalt_AfD-Antrag.pdfweb address: http://www...License of article and all embedded media:  Creative Commons by-sa: Share Alike