The Repressive Face of European Democracy
In an age where the word “democracy” is wielded like a sacred mantra, Germany has become the emblem of its disturbing distortion: the use of institutions to crush legitimate opposition.
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), now the country’s second-largest political force, is under systematic attack. Its mere existence is perceived as a threat to an ideological order built on globalism, progressive dirigisme, and unwavering loyalty to the Euro-Atlantic agenda.
This political war against the AfD is being waged on all fronts, by an informal yet solid alliance of parties, media, security services, and activist movements. It’s not a battle of ideas — it’s a campaign of isolation, criminalization, and censorship. Behind the soothing label of “defending democracy”, a new form of soft authoritarianism is taking shape.
The “Sanitary Cordon” as a Regime Tool
The German Parliament recently offered a stark example of this new political medicine. Gerold Otten, AfD member of parliament, was rejected three times as a candidate for Bundestag Vice President. Not because of personal shortcomings, but on principle: the AfD must not be allowed to exist — let alone hold institutional positions. It’s as if the rules allow you to play, but only if you always lose.
Meanwhile, a bipartisan motion — enthusiastically supported by the CDU, SPD, Greens, and Die Linke (now more of a private club than a pluralistic parliament) — proposes to ban the party outright.
Official reason? “Incompatibility with democratic order.”
Real reason? Incompatibility with their preferred order.
Now, pressure is mounting on Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) to classify the AfD as an “extremist organization”. Such a label would pave the way for a legal ban — sidestepping democratic debate in favor of a repressive shortcut.
A Pattern Repeating Across Europe
The same script plays out elsewhere. In Italy, Fratelli d’Italia — in power since 2022 — is still branded a “neofascist threat” by the Democratic Party (PD), which sees itself as the sole guardian of democracy (along with the Manifesto of Ventotene), supported by EU-funded NGOs and friendly media. This despite the government’s adherence to the constitutional framework.
In Austria, the Freedom Party (FPÖ), even after winning the 2024 elections, was excluded from governance by a traditional party coalition, invoking the usual bogeyman of the “far right”.
What emerges is a spreading “democratic exception” — a system that tolerates dissent only when harmless, and transforms the defense of democracy into a soft yet insidious form of authoritarianism, cloaked in noble intentions.
A Climate of Intimidation: Censorship, Threats, Exclusion
The campaign against the AfD isn’t just institutional — it’s all-encompassing:
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Weaponizing the Past: The memory of Nazism is used as a moral club. Despite the AfD’s repeated repudiation of that past, any sympathy for the party is treated as historical revisionism — triggering guilt and silencing citizens out of fear of social isolation or professional repercussions.
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Systematic Media Demonization: Mainstream outlets distort the party’s message, cherry-pick and decontextualize controversial quotes, and ignore substantive policy proposals. The goal is to replace rational debate with manufactured outrage.
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Economic and Workplace Pressure: AfD members and sympathizers face job discrimination, boycotts, and dismissals. This underground repression is perhaps the most dangerous — no arrests, just quiet exclusion from public life and employment.
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“Antifascism” as a Pretext for Violence: Activist groups, often with tacit approval from institutions, stage relentless protests against AfD events. These sometimes escalate into assaults, sabotage, and threats. Co-leader Alice Weidel has had to cancel appearances due to safety concerns. Such violence is not only tolerated — it’s often portrayed as “civil resistance”.
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Administrative and Financial Sabotage: The AfD faces mounting obstacles in opening bank accounts, managing party funds, and printing campaign materials. Bureaucratic pretexts accumulate into a form of legalized sabotage.
The European Paradox: Conditional Freedom
This drift is not a German anomaly — it’s part of a continental trend. Whenever political forces grow outside Brussels’ ideological control, the same sequence is activated: exclusion, demonization, repression.
In Austria, the FPÖ is blacklisted from any governing coalition despite its electoral mandate. In Italy, Fratelli d’Italia operates under constant media and NGO surveillance.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen embodies this new orthodoxy: globalism, military interventionism, and ideological transitions under a green label. Deviation is not tolerated. The European Parliament has even attempted to exclude entire political groups — like Identity and Democracy — from holding official roles, under the pretext that they are “incompatible with EU values.”
The Boomerang Effect: What Is Repressed, Grows
The most ironic — and dangerous — aspect of this strategy is that it doesn’t work.
While the system tries to erase the AfD, the party is growing. Polls place it at 23.5%, while the so-called “responsible” parties are losing ground. In France, Rassemblement National nears 30%.
Repressed dissent doesn’t vanish — it ferments and strengthens.
The systemic risk is clear: more and more citizens feel not just unrepresented, but persecuted.
The system that calls itself “inclusive” becomes in reality a machine of brutal and hypocritical exclusion.
A System Afraid of Its People
The AfD case reveals an uncomfortable truth: elites, unable to respond to questions of identity, security, and employment, resort to censorship. In doing so, they expose themselves for what they are — a ruling class disconnected from reality, willing to form cross-party alliances to preserve power and crush alternatives.
Germany is turning into a laboratory for post-democratic repression, where consent is managed, not respected. And the European Union?
Not only silent — it applauds.