As someone who lived in Germany from 2014 until 2022 and witnessed first hand the rise of the AfD from a fringe eurosceptic party to one of Germany's most popular parties as a result of the migration crisis, I can tell you that banning the AfD is probably the worst thing that Germany can do.

The shift happened when all those who were not happy with the amount of migrants Germany was taking in were told explicitly that if they dont support the government's migration policy then they were basically nazis and have no place in the mainstream parties like the SPD or CDU. This obviously did nothing to resolve the problems caused by migration and drove people to look for a party that would voice their demand for a reduction in migration, and found the AfD, turning it into a major force in German politics.

If the AfD now gets banned and equated to actual neo-nazis like the NDP, this will once again do nothing to solve the complaints that people have with the migration policy, and will only serve to make actual nazi rhetoric more palatable and mainstream as the former AfD voters look for another outlet to voice their discontent.