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.
