New expert opinion deems AfD unconstitutional and supports ban application

In addition, the AfD violates democratic principles because it wants to suppress political opponents and have politicians from other parties prosecuted under criminal law. According to its goals and the behavior of its supporters, the party aims to "die freiheitliche demokratische Grundordnung zu beeinträchtigen."

Requirements for a Ban Procedure

Moini said a ban application would "nach unserer Einschätzung wahrscheinlich Erfolg." Under the Basic Law, the initiative for such a procedure can come from the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, or the Federal Government. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe decides on the question of a possible unconstitutionality.

A ban procedure in the Bundestag requires a majority of its members. The Karlsruhe judges demand for a ban an "aktiv kämpferisch-aggressive Haltung" aimed at abolishing the free democratic basic order. Since the founding of the Federal Republic, only two parties have been banned: the Socialist Reich Party (SRP) in 1952 and the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) in 1956.

Reactions from the Bundestag

In the political debate surrounding the expert opinion, politicians from several factions called for swift action. The Greens faction chairs Britta Haßelmann and Katharina Dröge stated that, as chairs of the democratic factions of the Bundestag, they were "in der Verantwortung zu handeln." In a letter published on Thursday to the faction leaders of the CDU/CSU, SPD, and Die Linke, they wrote that the expert opinion "unmissverständlich nahe, dass die AfD unsere freiheitlich-demokratische Grundordnung massiv bedroht und belastbare Anhaltspunkte für die Verfassungswidrigkeit der AfD gegeben sind."

SPD Bundestag member Carmen Wegge also spoke out in favor of a procedure. "Aus meiner Sicht müssen wir uns jetzt auf den Weg machen zur Überprüfung der AfD vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht," she told the Rheinische Post. SPD legal expert Harald Baumann-Hasske, chair of the Working Group of Social Democratic Lawyers (ASJ), stated that the expert opinion creates "ausreichende Klarheit und eine belastbare Grundlage, auf der nun endlich gehandelt werden kann."

SSW Bundestag member Stefan Seidler told the Rheinische Post: "Beim Schutz unserer Demokratie darf es kein Zögern geben." Die Linke faction vice-chair Clara Bünger told Der Spiegel that one must "nicht länger die Mechanismen blockieren, die die Verfassung zu ihrer Selbstverteidigung vorsieht." Die Linke's lead candidate for Berlin, Elif Eralp, described an AfD ban procedure as overdue.

From the CDU, Bundestag member Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker expressed openness to a ban procedure. "Wir haben allen Anlass, dem Gericht diese Prüfung zu ermöglichen," she told Der Spiegel. Winkelmeier-Becker had already belonged in the previous legislative term to a cross-factional group that had spoken out in favor of an AfD ban.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) commented in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit without reference to the new expert opinion: "Die AfD muss man wegregieren." The debate over a ban procedure is thus reopened; a parliamentary majority for it is currently considered open.

The news was broadcast on June 25, 2026 on the program Deutschlandfunk. The expert opinion is likely to increase the pressure on the democratic factions to take a position in the coming weeks.