German Court Denies Police Job to AfD Politician Over Suitability Concerns

A Berlin police officer has been denied a position in the criminal police force due to his involvement with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The Administrative Court of Berlin dismissed his legal challenge, ruling that his role as an AfD faction leader in a Brandenburg local council raises significant doubts about his suitability and character for law enforcement.

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Doubts about the character suitability.

The officer, who served as a police officer in Berlin from 2011 until March 2026, had received a preliminary job offer in April 2025 for a detective training program starting in April 2026. However, this offer was rescinded in March 2026. Berlin authorities cited his public role within the AfD, particularly as a faction chairman, as grounds for withdrawing the offer, stating it cast doubt on his 'character suitability.'

In his appeal, the officer argued that he had not fully grasped the extent of the AfD Brandenburg's trajectory, which has been classified as a suspected extremist movement by the domestic intelligence service since 2020 and as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization since 2025. He subsequently resigned from his local political mandate. However, the court was not convinced.

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The applicant is a member of the AfD and is organizationally integrated into the state association. That he ran as a candidate in the local election and took over the leadership of the AfD parliamentary group shows his substantive identification with the party's goals.

The court determined that his active participation in the AfD, including running as a candidate and leading a faction, indicated a clear identification with the party's objectives. Furthermore, the court found that he had not credibly demonstrated a genuine dissociation from the party and its goals. His justification for resigning, citing the AfD's right-wing extremist classification, was deemed unconvincing as this classification had been in place for a year prior to his resignation, a fact he was aware of.

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He also did not credibly demonstrate that he had completely distanced himself from his party and its goals out of his own conviction.