Germany Pushing Ahead With Banning AfD Party?

Even as Muslims in Germany demand the implementation of Sharia law in direct contravention of the German constitution, CNN reports that "Calls are mounting to ban Germany’s far-right AfD party – despite it being more popular than ever." The CNN article begins:

    The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is now Germany’s largest opposition group and even topped several opinion polls – briefly putting it ahead of now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right party – in the weeks after February’s federal election.

    At the same time, the AfD is facing growing calls for an outright ban, most recently from another major political party.

    In May, the country’s domestic intelligence agency formally classified the AfD as an extremist entity that threatens democracy. In a 1,100-page report, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, also laid out its findings that the party was racist, anti-Muslim, and devaluing of “entire segments” of Germany’s population. [Translation: they oppose mass immigration by Muslims--see the first link above]

    That move, which enables the BfV to better monitor the group , has reignited attempts to impose a ban, despite the party claiming a significant 20.8% of the vote in February’s national election – the best performance by a far-right party in the country since World War II. 

The article adds that "On Monday [i.e., Monday of last week], the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is currently serving as the junior coalition partner in Berlin’s conservative-led government, voted unanimously to begin efforts to outlaw it." However, other parties are more hesitant, afraid that such a move could make the AfD even more popular and subject Germany to repercussions from the Trump Administration.