Scholz: Far-right AfD must be countered on the merits, not with a ban

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken against potential efforts to outlaw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), at least for the time being.

"A ban is a very difficult thing in a democracy and therefore there are very high hurdles," Scholz said in remarks on Friday to German Catholics in the central German city of Erfurt.

In his view, Germany's BfV domestic intelligence agency should do its job in investigating potential threats to the country's democracy and implement the law.

Scholz said efforts to make Germany's constitution more robust in the face of potential anti-democratic threats is more promising. He pointed for example to recent changes to how political parties are funded in Germany in order to deny public financing to extremist groups.

"That is the setting in which I would move for the time being," said Scholz. "I don't think a ban is on the cards now."

Scholz emphasized that right-wing populist parties have also grown in other countries such as Finland, Sweden and Austria, even though those countries are not plagued with major crises or problems.

Right-wing populists are capitalizing on the uncertainty about the future and focusing on division rather than solutions, the chancellor said.

The key question is how the political appeals of far-right populism can be countered, Scholz said. In his view, this could only succeed on the merits.