German CDU Slams Move To Exclude AfD From State Jobs

Am I the only one who sees this as a repeat of the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which banned Jews from the civil service in 1933?

From The European Conservative

By Nick Hallett

Critics in Germany’s centre-right warn the government is using civil service rules to sideline opposition voices.

A controversial new policy in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate has drawn sharp criticism from both the conservative CDU and the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), after the regional government moved to bar AfD members from working in the public sector.

The rule change, introduced by the state’s interior minister, Michael Ebling, a member of the left-wing SPD, requires all applicants for state employment—including teachers, police officers and civil servants—to declare in writing that they have not belonged to any so-called extremist organisation in the past five years. The AfD, Germany’s largest opposition party, is included on the state’s official list of such groups, effectively disqualifying its members from public service jobs.

CDU parliamentary leader Gordon Schnieder condemned the policy as “more show than substance,” accusing Ebling of staging a political performance. “This is not responsible government action, but party-political calculation on the back of a highly sensitive issue,” Schnieder told Die Welt. He noted that Ebling himself had previously said such steps should only be taken jointly with the federal government and other states. “Now he rushes ahead—clearly driven by internal SPD pressure.”

The AfD, which continues to gain public support despite increasing efforts to isolate it politically, said the measure was a blatant attack on democracy. “This is a political bankruptcy declaration and an attack on the free democratic basic order,” said AfD MP Sebastian Münzenmaier. “Every AfD member is now placed under general suspicion.”

The new regulation is based on a list of “extremist” organisations compiled by the state’s domestic intelligence agency. Applicants who refuse to sign the loyalty declaration—or fail to dispel doubts—will be automatically rejected. Existing public employees could face disciplinary action or be dismissed. Police recruits will be subject to even stricter screening, including assessments of their conduct in private life.

Ebling defended the policy as a necessary measure to protect democratic institutions. “Loyalty to the constitution is not a wish, not a recommendation, not lip service—it is an unshakeable duty of every public servant,” he said.

But critics argue the timing is no coincidence. Just weeks ago, the SPD passed a national resolution calling for legal steps to ban the AfD altogether. With elections looming and SPD support declining, many see the crackdown as a desperate attempt to suppress a rising challenger—not by persuasion, but by exclusion.