Berlin, October 23rd, 2026 (The Berlin Spectator) – Manuela Schwesig, the Social Democratic governor of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, has thrown her weight behind the creation of a joint federal and state working group to examine a possible ban on the AfD. Speaking to the broadcasters RTL and ntv, she said the group should collect all incidents and findings related to the party and then commission an outside expert to make a recommendation. According to Schwesig, the states are currently in talks about setting up such a body.
She stressed that politicians cannot outlaw a party on their own. “As politicians, we cannot ban the AfD”, she said, adding that only the Federal Constitutional Court can decide. Whether and how to submit a case should be judged by an expert on the basis of the evidence, in her view.
Schwesig also made clear that a legal route is not the only one she has in mind. Two things are needed, she argued. The first is a substantive political debate with the AfD, whose platform she believes would harm the country. She pointed to the party’s call for leaving the Euro, which she described as a catastrophe for the economy. The second is a duty to take seriously what Germany’s security agencies know about the party. The AfD, she said, posed a “serious threat”.
Restated Position
The idea of a working group was first floated in September by Wüst, the Christian Democratic governor of North Rhine-Westphalia. He raised it on September 7th at an event in Berlin and repeated it the next day: “I warn against hasty moves on an AfD ban”, Wüst said. In his view, any review must be open-ended and should not automatically lead to proceedings. A party ban could only be the last resort, he said. Later in September, he restated his position while campaigning in Lower Saxony.
Within the conservative camp, the proposal has met resistance. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has remained skeptical about a ban, and the Union (CDU/CSU) as a whole has so far rejected an application by a majority. Media reports also said Bavaria’s governor Markus Söder opposed Wüst’s approach.
The debate is now unfolding against the backdrop of a data leak. Hackers recently published hundreds of thousands of emails and documents from the AfD. The party confirmed the breach and filed a criminal complaint. Legal experts disagree on whether the material could become relevant to ban proceedings, according to the public broadcaster ZDF.
