Uli Grötsch, the left-wing SPD official charged with investigating police misconduct, says police officers with AfD membership or who campaign for the party should be automatically dismissed from the force.
The police commissioner of the German Bundestag, Uli Grötsch, has demanded that all members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) be removed from the police service.
Despite holding an office meant to monitor misconduct and structural problems in the federal police, Grötsch, a Social Democratic Party (SPD) politician, used the platform to argue that AfD membership is incompatible with public service.
“AfD membership and work as a police officer are not compatible,” Grötsch told the Rheinische Post, referencing the controversial classification of the party as “definitely right-wing extremist” by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
“Membership with visible commitment to the AfD must result in removal from service. For me, commitment means openly campaigning for the party, running for the municipal or city council, or even for the Bundestag,” he added.