New issue of »Thüringer Zustände« published

In the 2024 Thurinigian state elections, the far-right AfD became the strongest party for the first time and also made significant gains in European and local elections. With its blocking minority, it is hindering democratic processes in the state parliament, using the plenum as a stage for misanthropic hate speech and making a mockery of democracy. The issue of »Thüringer Zustände« (»Thuringian Conditions«) published today (23 June) highlights in various articles that the AfD, as a key right-wing extremist player, poses the greatest threat to democracy at various levels—whether in parliament, on the streets or in the digital space.

»In 2024, the Thuringian AfD spread revisionist and glorifying interpretations of the Nazi and GDR past in order to mobilize voters, delegitimize liberal democracy and defame the culture of remembrance,« declares Johannes Streitberger, Managing Director of KomRex at the University of Jena.

Appeal to the Thuringian state government

The editors of »Thüringer Zustände« therefore make an urgent appeal to the Thuringian state government: The far-right AfD must be combated with all constitutional resources. This also means that AfD politicians must not be given key positions in the Thuringian parliament and its committees. Further measures would include a thorough examination of how members of the party, which has been confirmed as being right-wing in Thuringia for several years, should be dealt with in the civil service and active participation by the state government in a Bundesrat initiative to ban the AfD.

»Right-wing violence has reached a record high in Thuringia in 2024 and is developing into a mass phenomenon. We are observing a strengthening of violent neo-Nazi youth groups. We must consider this in the context of the online turbo-radicalization by extreme right-wing actors. The perpetrators of violence ultimately act on the demands of extreme right-wing channels and politicians,« says Franz Zobel, project manager at ezra.

Romy Arnold, project manager at MOBIT, also emphasizes: »The rise of the extreme right is particularly evident among the youth and young adults—a trend that is confirmed by the state election results in Thuringia. The Thuringian AfD has long since become the centre of gravity for large sections of the extreme right. The kid gloves when dealing with the greatest threat to democracy must finally come off.«

Dr Axel Salheiser, Scientific Director of the IDZ, stresses that a clear distinction from the AfD would be in the interests of the majority of people in Thuringia: »Despite the public focus on the AfD, the majority of people in Thuringia do not vote for far-right parties—this potential for an active pro-democratic positioning has been underutilized to date. What is needed now is a clear focus on strengthening democratic institutions, socio-political measures and civil society. Cuts in the area of democracy support would be fatal in this situation.«

Background

The publication series »Thüringer Zustände« has been published for the fifth year in a row. It offers a compact, fact-based presentation and critical categorization of the situation of right-wing extremism, antisemitism and racism, devaluation, discrimination and hate violence in the Free State of Thuringia. It is published by ezra—Mobile consultation for victims of right-wing, racist and anti-Semitic violenceExternal link, by MOBIT – Mobile Beratung in Thüringen – für Demokratie– gegen RechtsextremismusExternal link (Mobile counselling in Thuringia—for democracy—against right-wing extremism), by KomRex—Centre for Research on Right-Wing Extremism, Democracy