Rhineland-Palatinate bars AfD members from Civil service

AfD members will no longer be employed in the civil service in Rhineland-Palatinate. "Anyone who places themselves in the service of this state must remain loyal to the constitution at all times, without any ifs or buts," said State Interior Minister Michael Ebling (SPD) in Mainz on Thursday. The administrative regulation on constitutional loyalty has been tightened.

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Accordingly, all applicants for the recruitment process will be required to declare that they do not belong to any extremist organization or have not been a member of one in the past five years. Anyone who refuses to provide this declaration and cannot dispel doubts about their loyalty to the constitution will not be granted civil service status or be hired into the public service.

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The basis for this is a list compiled by the state's Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) of extremist groups and organizations for which there is sufficient evidence of anti-constitutional activities. The AfD is also on this list, which is regularly updated.

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The administrative regulation will apply to new hires in the future. For those already employed in the civil service, however, membership in an extremist organization can be relevant under disciplinary law. The ministry stated that each individual case will be decisive. Proven violations of the duty of loyalty to the constitution could result in dismissal from service.

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"Loyalty to the Constitution is not a wish, a recommendation, or lip service; it is the unshakable duty of every civil servant in our country," Ebling explained. There should be "no doubt that everyone who works for this state stands up for our Constitution with conviction."

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AfD state chairman Jan Bollinger announced that his parliamentary group would "offer political and legal resistance." "The AfD opposition is being systematically harassed," he accused the state government.