The 'Membership' Story

So this story popped up today in Germany, via Focus (the German news magazine).

There is this agency (often referred to as BfV), the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.....which is basically the national office over domestic security.

You could say that it's a combination of the FBI and NSA, in some German creation.....aimed only at the safety and security of the 82-million residents/citizens of Germany.

Yes, they handle counter-intelligence gathering, terror threats, sabotage issues, and a number of issues.

So Focus laid out the story....BfV sent a letter out to each employee (3,000 of them).....basically saying that you need to come forward and inform them of your membership (if it exists) in the right-wing party.....the AfD.

What happens if you admit this membership?  There would be some type of evaluation, and basically.....if you were in any capacity where they thought your judgement was affected in some terror act, then you'd have to be moved to a non-conflict position or job.  They aren't saying they'd dismiss you or lay you off (at least at this point). 

What some are quietly saying today in commentary around the nation.....why only the AfD?  What if you were attached to the Greens or Linke Party?  Wouldn't your trustworthy rating also come into conflict? 

How many of the 3,000 might be AfD members?  It might be ten....it might be a hundred. 

The problem I see, from a process perspective.....the same logic would occur with the federal police, or the land (individual state) police, or even down to local city police. 

If you did admit some membership, then it goes into some folder, and you could probably go and claim in five years that your promotion rate, or yearly evaluation ratings.....were hampered by the admission.  You'd basically create this review board, and some judge continually trying to understand who you screwed over as an organization, and why.

Could you be active with the AfD folks, and not be a member?  Yes.  That basically puts the BfV folks into a more difficult position.  You might have 300 of the 3,000 who readily agree and support AfD political stances, and yet be outside of the party itself.  In fact, you might review the numbers enough to say that more than 1,500 of the 3,000.....lean toward AfD political stances on migration and asylum, yet aren't full-up members of the party.

Inviting a bigger mess than the path?  More than likely, but this is part of the whole discussion over migration, and public perception of a unresolved mess, and BfV trying to give itself some stamp of approval with the Bundestag, that they are immigrant-friendly or at least neutral.