[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022ds-1col clearfix\u0022\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \u003Cp\u003EAlmost since its inception in the 1960s, the NPD was widely discussed in the German and at times international media. Described by the German Intelligence service as \u201cracist, anti-Semitic and revisionist\u201d and staunchly opposed by the German political establishment, media reports of the party have been quick to point out its xenophobic and anti-democratic character.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EMichelle Martin, \u201cGerman party accused of neo-Nazi traits set for EU parliament,\u201d Reuters, May 21, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2014\/05\/21\/us-eu-election-germany-neonazis-idUSBREA4K0DY20140521\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/2014\/05\/21\/us-eu-election-germany-neonazis-idUSBREA4K0DY20140521\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E Given the extreme views propagated by the party and against the backdrop of Germany\u2019s World War II legacy, the NPD\u2019s electoral success has been received by the media with shock and consternation. While the NPD\u2019s views and actions were universally rejected by media outlets, opinion varied on the most effective way to deal with the challenge the party posed to Germany\u2019s young democracy. Given the current collapse of approval for the NPD among its former supporters and the financial difficulties the party faces, recent media reports have concluded that the NPD has failed to modernize and is likely to become increasingly more extreme.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EFrank Jansen, \u201cVerfassungsschutz: \u2018NPD wird eng mit Neonazis kooperieren,\u2019\u201d \u003Cem\u003EDer Tagesspiegel\u003C\/em\u003E, September 15, 2014, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.tagesspiegel.de\/politik\/rechtsextreme-nach-den-wahlen-verfassungsschutz-npd-wird-eng-mit-neonazis-kooperieren\/10703248.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.tagesspiegel.de\/politik\/rechtsextreme-nach-den-wahlen-verfassungsschutz-npd-wird-eng-mit-neonazis-kooperieren\/10703248.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe discovery in 2011 of the neo-Nazi terrorist cell National Socialist Underground (\u003Cem\u003ENationalsozialistischer Untergrund\u003C\/em\u003E or NSU), which murdered at least 10 people, mostly of Turkish origin, between 2000 and 2007, sent shockwaves through the German political system. The failure of German police and intelligence agencies to uncover the activities of the group for so long, and the scale of the group\u2019s crimes, led to a new debate on the threat of right-wing extremism in Germany. During the investigation into the NSU\u2019s activities, an overlap between NSU members and the NPD were uncovered. While direct links between the NSU and NPD have been hard to prove, newspapers pointed to the ideological role that the NPD had played in establishing an environment where violent right-wing extremist ideas could flourish. The left-wing\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ETAZ\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Eargued in this context that \u201cThe NSU could only survive 14 years in the underground because they could rely on a legal operating network\u2026\u201d and held the NPD responsible for a \u201cmental brutalization.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EAndreas Fanizadeh, \u201cDer Ober- und Untergrund,\u201d \u003Cem\u003Etaz.de\u003C\/em\u003E, November 19, 2011, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.taz.de\/!82179\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.taz.de\/!82179\/\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAttempts by Germany\u2019s constitutional bodies to ban the NPD have been widely discussed in the press. Some viewed the second attempt by the Federal Council to ban the party as an insufficient way to deal with the challenges that the NPD poses. The conservative\u003Cem\u003E Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung \u003C\/em\u003Eargued that \u201c[A] ban, which can only target the organization and not the views that are associated with it, will ultimately strengthen the forces, which view the current system as sordid and un-democratic.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EReinhard Mueller, \u201cStumpfe Waffe,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung\u003C\/em\u003E, December 3, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.faz.net\/aktuell\/politik\/inland\/npd-verbot-stumpfe-waffe-12693531.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.faz.net\/aktuell\/politik\/inland\/npd-verbot-stumpfe-waffe-12693531.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The newspaper went on to ask, \u201c[W]here is the debate around [the issue of xenophobia]? Why does no one dare to tell the sad supporters of raciology that they are not at all nationally disposed (...)?\u201c\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EReinhard Mueller, \u201cStumpfe Waffe,\u201d \u003Cem\u003EFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,\u003C\/em\u003E December 3, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.faz.net\/aktuell\/politik\/inland\/npd-verbot-stumpfe-waffe-12693531.html\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.faz.net\/aktuell\/politik\/inland\/npd-verbot-stumpfe-waffe-12693531.html\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ES\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung\u003C\/em\u003E (SZ), on the other hand, strongly supports banning the party, arguing that \u201cthe NPD (...) is anti-constitutional to its bones because it believes in an ethnically defined concept of humanity, which denies immigrants fundamental human rights.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EWolfgang Janisch, \u201cVerfassungsfeindlich bis in die Knochen,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ESueddeutsche Zeitung\u003C\/em\u003E, December 2, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sueddeutsche.de\/politik\/npd-verbotsverfahren-verfassungsfeindlich-bis-in-die-knochen-1.1833652\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.sueddeutsche.de\/politik\/npd-verbotsverfahren-verfassungsfeindlich-bis-in-die-knochen-1.1833652\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\n\u0026nbsp;While the SZ does not view the NPD as a direct threat to Germany\u2019s democracy, it argues that the party should be banned \u201cbecause the lessons from the Hitler regime include a firm defence of the dignity of human beings.\u201d\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EWolfgang Janisch, \u201cVerfassungsfeindlich bis in die Knochen,\u201d \u003Cem\u003ESueddeutsche Zeitung\u003C\/em\u003E, December 2, 2013, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sueddeutsche.de\/politik\/npd-verbotsverfahren-verfassungsfeindlich-bis-in-die-knochen-1.1833652\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.sueddeutsche.de\/politik\/npd-verbotsverfahren-verfassungsfeindlich-bis-in-die-knochen-1.1833652\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EIn January 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected the proposed ban on the NPD due to the party\u2019s lack of political weight to pose an actual threat to Germany\u2019s democratic system. However, the court noted that the NPD resembles the Nazi party and that its objectives were unconstitutional.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cGermany\u2019s top court rules against ban on far-right NDP,\u201d Guardian, January 17, 2017, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/jan\/17\/germany-s-top-court-rules-against-ban-on-far-right-ndp\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/jan\/17\/germany-s-top-court-rules-against-ban-on-far-right-ndp\u003C\/a\u003E; Ben Knight \u201cA guide to Germany\u2019s farright groups,\u201d Deutsche Welle, June 17, 2017, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/a-guide-to-germanys-far-right-groups\/a-39124629\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/a-guide-to-germanys-far-right-groups\/a-39124629\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E The NPD criticized the ruling but did not alter its ideological positions and, instead, reaffirmed its nationalist stance.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003E\u201cBrief summary, 2017 Report on the Protection of the Constitution, Facts and Trends,\u201d Bundesamt f\u00fcr Verfassungsschutz, accessed April 1, 2019, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.verfassungsschutz.de\/embed\/annual-report-2017-summary.pdf\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.verfassungsschutz.de\/embed\/annual-report-2017-summary.pdf\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the NPD has not changed its ideological core values, the party has tried to rebrand and improve its image since Frank Franz assumed the chairmanship in 2014. Instead of combat boots, 88 tattoos, and t-shirts carrying Germanic deities, the NPD alongside other far-right groups have tried to appeal to younger generations by being less overtly aggressive. As chairman, Franz mixes pop culture with nationalism on social media. He is often photographed wearing trendy tailored suits and his style aesthetics serve to attract young people in the hipster scene.\u003Cspan class=\u0022footnote\u0022\u003EElizabeth Schumacher, \u201cThe \u0027Nipsters\u0027: NPD and neo-Nazis change their style,\u201d Deutsche Welle, December 8, 2015, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/the-nipsters-npd-and-neo-nazis-change-their-style\/a-18902369\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/the-nipsters-npd-and-neo-nazis-change-their-style\/a-18902369\u003C\/a\u003E; Jan Karon, \u201cHashtags, Memes und Selfies \u2013 Wie der NPD-Chef auf Instagram um Follower buhlt,\u201d Vice, September 25, 2015, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.vice.com\/de\/article\/qbmmjp\/wie-der-npd-chef-auf-instagram-nach-followern-buhlt-frank-franz-308\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/www.vice.com\/de\/article\/qbmmjp\/wie-der-npd-chef-auf-instagram-nach-followern-buhlt-frank-franz-308\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n","dialogOptions":{"minWidth":850,"resizable":true,"modal":true,"title":"Analysis of the Group"}},{"command":"doFootnotes"}]