How should Germany deal with its far-right problem – and could it ban the AfD? | Mariam Lau and others

After revelations of a secret meeting with neo-Nazis, huge anti-AfD protests have erupted across the country. But what would it mean to ban a party riding high in the polls?

The idea of banning the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party seems to me a lot like magical thinking. Outlaw them - poof, they're gone! But the case that the entire party (rather than individual statements) represents a clear and present danger to our democracy is far from watertight. Imagine losing! And in some regions of Germany the AfD represents a third of the electorate. Excluding all of them from participating? Not a good idea.

Mariam Lau is a political journalist for Die Zeit