{"id":37841,"date":"2025-04-21T08:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T08:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/37841\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T08:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T08:24:18","slug":"germanys-far-right-afd-dissolves-extremist-youth-branch-to-avert-ban-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/37841\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s far-right AfD dissolves extremist youth branch to avert ban \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\u201cIt is unrealistic to ban a party that has over 20 percent of the popular vote,\u201d said Hannes Gnauck, leader of the AfD\u2019s youth branch. | Sean Gallup\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

A ban on Young Alternative would have been far easier to implement legally, which explains why members moved to dissolve it. The group\u2019s former leader said as much in the lead-up to Germany\u2019s nation election on Feb. 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unrealistic to ban a party that has over 20 percent of the popular vote,\u201d said<\/a> Hannes Gnauck, leader of the AfD\u2019s youth branch. \u201cBut attacking where we are weakest, namely the unregistered association of the Young Alternative, is realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating an AfD youth wing that is under the party\u2019s control will protect the new group by significantly raising the legal hurdle for banning it. Under the new structure, all members of the youth wing over the age of 16 would automatically become party members.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many indications that the new youth organization will become more professional and that it will become stronger overall,\u201d said Heinze, the University of Trier researcher. \u201cIt will, for example, have access to more financial resources, because\u00a0it will have more dues-paying members.\u201d<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s now-dissolved youth wing had become increasingly influential in recent years, attracting many young voters<\/a> with online campaigns that included AI-generated videos depicting the deportation (\u201cremigration\u201d) of migrants from Germany en masse. Members of the youth wing also created a deportation-themed video game<\/a>, while young far-right influencers flooded<\/a> social media networks like TikTok.<\/p>\n

The AfD finished second<\/a> among voters aged 18 to 21 in the country\u2019s Feb. 23 election with 21 percent, an increase of 14 percentage points over the previous national election.<\/p>\n

According to some party members, starting a new youth group will help the AfD present itself as a more palatable option to voters who have long rejected the party due to its extremist stigma.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that is a step towards normality will of course be well received,\u201d said Matthias Moosdorf, a national parliamentarian for the AfD.<\/p>\n