The youth organization of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party dissolved itself on Saturday, but is expected to be replaced by another organization with closer ties to the AfD.
At a federal congress in the Thuringian town of Apolda, the Young Alternative (JA) decided to dissolve itself, effective March 21, JA leader Martin Kohler said. Other JA representatives and sources in AfD circles also confirmed the move to dpa.
The police said some 250 JA members attended the meeting in Apolda, which was accompanied by protests.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, regards the JA as a proven right-wing extremist organization. Hannes Gnauck, JA chairman and a member of the AfD federal executive, had advocated for dissolving the JA in its current form, pointing out that otherwise there would have been a possible risk of the youth association being banned.
AfD party delegates had voted by majority in favour of the change at a party conference three weeks ago.
The party plans to replace the current largely independent youth organization with a new organization that is closely linked to the AfD, thus giving the party greater control over the next generation.
Kohler said while the dissolution of the JA means its name has been deleted from the party’s bylaws, this does not mean that a future organization is prohibited from using the name.
“Today is not the end, we will be back, no question about it,” Kohler posted on the JA Schleswig-Holstein’s page on X. Schleswig-Holstein is Germany’s northernmost state.
AfD invites young members to founding congress
All AfD members under the age of 36 are to be invited by the AfD executive board to a founding congress. There, the party’s young members are to adopt a statute or kind of constitution and decide on a name for the organization. The federal executive board has proposed “Patriotic Youth” as a name.
The new party youth will be subject to stricter rules: Up to now, JA members – except for the board members – did not have to be members of the AfD, and the official rules of the party did not apply to them, including possible disciplinary proceedings for misconduct.
For the future youth party, only AfD members will be eligible, with the exception of young people under the age of 16, who cannot yet be party members. However, by joining the youth organization, they must recognize “the statutes, rules and principles of the AfD” and submit to the party’s arbitration. At the latest, their membership ends when they turn 17 if they have not become AfD members by then.
Protests around the conference venue
According to the police, around 1,300 people demonstrated against the JA federal congress in Apolda, including trade union representatives, political parties and the initiative Grandmas Against the Right.
They carried posters demanding, among other things, a ban on the AfD. The police were on hand in force, with dozens of police cars securing the town hall. A police spokesman said the event had gone off without a hitch.
The city council’s decision to rent the venue to the AfD had sparked debates beyond the city limits. A nationwide online petition against the rental was signed by more than 94,000 people within a few days.
