The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) plans to establish a new youth organization. Their current youth wing, Junge Alternative (JA, or Young Alternative), has become increasingly radical.
Junge Alternative, the youth wing of the AfD, has long been under surveillance by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). However, this is not the main reason why the AfD wants to create a new youth organization and break away from the current JA.
The main website of JA features the slogan “Youth in Resistance,” with an edited video in the background showing a protest where an individual is seen raising their hand in the Nazi salute.
A brief look at JA’s program reveals thematic similarities to its parent party, the AfD, but JA often uses more radical slogans like “Our people first” on Instagram and promotes “reemigration”—not as a “secret plan, but as a promise.” On October 31, they posted slogans celebrating “Reemigration Day.”
Junge Alternative rejects “LGBTQ/gender absurdity,” “mass migration,” and the “Corona regime.” Their website password includes the term “German people.”
JA “Undermines Human Dignity”
Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified Junge Alternative as a “confirmed far-right organization,” which allows it to monitor the group using covert methods.
In response, both JA and AfD filed complaints with the Administrative Court in Cologne, but the court ruled that JA is an “extremist organization.” The court stated that JA supports a “definition of people based on ethnic origin,” where migrants are “demeaned and thus deprived of human dignity”—which is protected by Germany’s Basic Law.
The Growing Connection Between Youth and the AfD
Although the AfD has successfully attracted young voters in the last elections, the party is concerned that JA poses a significant threat. While AfD leader Alice Weidel claimed in an interview with ARD that the decision to form a new youth organization has nothing to do with surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it seems that the party wants more control over its youth wing, especially with early elections expected in February.
AfD is worried that its lack of influence over JA could become problematic, especially as increasing calls for a ban on the party are being heard. Meanwhile, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution continues to gather evidence on AfD’s extremism as a whole.
Currently, Junge Alternative is a legally independent group with its own statute, program, and membership. The new youth organization is expected to be an integral part of the AfD. According to Weidel, this will allow the party to influence the youth wing’s members through arbitration rules, something that is not possible now. The plan is also for every member of the new youth organization to automatically become a member of the AfD. Currently, only half of JA’s 2,400 members are party members.
AfD’s New Youth Reorganization Plans
Dennis Hohloch, who is overseeing the restructuring, claims that the decision is not based on the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s assessment that JA is a far-right extremist group. He has drafted a written request for reorganization at the behest of AfD’s executive committee, stating that the goal is to “allow the growth of both the party and the youth organization together.” “For me, it’s important that we have a functional youth organization in the future,” he asserts.
Changes Expected in January?
Dominik Schumacher from the Federal Association for Mobile Consultancy, which focuses on issues of far-right extremism, believes that the AfD is trying to reduce the pressure on itself. “This move shows that the party is afraid of being banned and wants to prevent the development of such events. The problem is not just JA—the problem is AfD itself.”
The AfD plans to create a new youth organization before the federal elections. This would require a two-thirds majority vote at the party’s congress in January to amend the party’s statutes. One of the proposals suggests that every party member under the age of 36 would automatically become a member of the new youth organization.
/DW (Deutsche Welle)
