Bild: Almost half of Germans are in favor of banning the AfD party

About two-thirds of German residents consider the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to be right-wing extremist, almost half of Germans support its ban, according to a survey by the Insa institute for the Bild newspaper.

According to the survey results, 61% of German residents consider the AfD to be right-wing extremist, 31% disagree with this wording, and another 8% of respondents could not give an unambiguous answer. For 79% of respondents, the decision of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution did not affect their opinion of the party.

It also follows from the survey that 48% of German residents support the ban of AfD to one degree or another, while 37% of respondents oppose it. Another 8% could not give an unambiguous answer, and 7% are indifferent to the fate of AdH.

The survey was conducted on May 2-3 among 1001 residents of Germany. The error is not specified.

On Friday, the Office for the Protection of the German Constitution attributed to the AfD the status of a right-wing extremist party throughout the country. This decision will expand the arsenal of surveillance tools for the organization and is considered one of the intermediate steps towards banning the party, which in a number of recent polls has overtaken the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union bloc (CDU/CSU) that won the early elections.

The co-chairs of Alternative for Germany, Tino Krupalla and Alice Weidel, called the party's inclusion in the right-wing extremist movements a blow to democracy in the country. Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged not to rush and carefully weigh the consequences of a possible ban on AfD.