The neutrality requirement for statements made by state officials does not apply in the context of a parliamentary debate, even if the statements are made by a (government) member of the Senate. This has now been determined by the Hamburg Constitutional Court (HVerfG) (Ref.: HVerfG 2/24 of 05.09.2025).

Hamburg's Senator of the Interior Andy Grote (SPD) had attested to the AfD's increasing radicalisation in a session of the Hamburg Parliament in November 2023 and declared that the relativisation of National Socialism and the Holocaust was part of the party's „basic narrative“. The AfD parliamentary group and individual AfD MPs had seen this as a violation of the neutrality requirement, according to which state officials and members of government may not make statements in favour of or to the detriment of a party.

According to the court, however, the neutrality requirement does not apply in the parliamentary chamber, even if members of the government are speaking. Rather, they are „expressly entitled to take part in the debate in order to present and defend their position in parliament“, according to the court. Only the principle of objectivity must be observed, which was the case here.