The extreme right is considered dangerous in Germany, the extreme left not so much, writes Magyar Hírlap columnist Péter G. Fehér.
In Germany, the liberal government is in a relentless pursuit of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The government is working hand-in-hand with the media, which always prefixes the right-wing label with “extremist,” thus alarming decent German citizens who desire stability and calm.
After an AfD meeting near Potsdam, at which the deportation of some illegal migrants was allegedly discussed, was made public in January, the governing parties – the Socialists, the Greens and the Free Democrats – launched a professionally organized hate campaign against the party. Nobody with a particularly high profile was present at the meeting, although an influential member of the AfD, who has no party function whatsoever, was present in a private capacity.
Now, the banning of the party entirely is on the agenda.
Early on, the government’s campaign against the AfD seemed to be a success. The anti-immigrant party’s popularity saw a slight decline, but the trend has quickly come to a halt and the AfD is back above 20 percent nationally.