Bundeswehr stops procedures against AfD politicians Gnauck: Rehabilitation or deception?

Bundeswehr stops procedures against AfD politicians Gnauck: Rehabilitation or deception?

Brandenburg, Deutschland - The debate about extremism within the Bundeswehr is heated again after the disciplinary proceedings against the AfD member of the Bundestag Hannes Gnauck have been stopped. According to Tagesschau this was not done for formal reasons. This was confirmed by the troop service court, which, however, did not deal with the allegations against Gnauck.

Hannes Gnauck, who was the Federal Chairman of the Young alternative from 2022 to early 2025, was classified as a “recognized extremist”. This assessment is based not only on his membership in the AfD, which is classified by the constitutional protection as secure right -wing extremist, but also on its role within the youth organization. He commented on the process and described his attitude as "complete rehabilitation", which in his opinion concludes the matter. The decision of the court was shared by Gnauck via social media, publishing a photo of the decision of June 17th.

Follow and stigmatization

The last five years have not been easy for Gnauck. During the procedure, he had so far been denied access to barracks and wearing uniforms. He described the effects of the procedure as stigmatization and spoke of media agitation and exclusion in parliament. Regardless of these challenges, he emphasized that in the meantime there was no indictment, conviction or punishment and that he enjoyed immunity in the Bundestag before asked for their abolition.

Although he can imagine a return to the Bundeswehr, his employment relationship remains until September 2028, but it has been resting to the Bundestag since his election. Its dismissal will be sought as honorable in autumn 2028, and the federal government bears the costs of the proceedings, while its remuneration remain unaffected, such as Nordkurier reported.

extremism in the Bundeswehr

GNAUCK's case represents only one aspect in the broader context of extremism within the Bundeswehr. In the almost 70 years since it was founded, there have always been cases of right -wing extremist incidents, such as the arrest of Franco A., a Bundeswehr officer, because of the preparation of state -threatening acts of violence. Reports of the Federal Ministry of Defense and the military shielding service (Bamad) prove the continued problems with extremist Rows of the troop.

As part of the protection responsibility for democracy that the Bundeswehr has, every extremism is incompatible with its self -image. Extremism meets preventive and repressive measures to ensure political reliability and democratic attitudes of all members of the Bundeswehr. According to Bamad, right -wing extremists in particular make up a large part of the processed cases, with the tendency to be declining since 2021.

The case of Hannes Gnauck will be carefully pursued in this context, and the assessments of his political career give an idea of how sensitive the topic of extremism remains in society and especially in the armed forces.