The minister of state for Eastern Germany has spoken out against a ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Carsten Schneider, a Social Democrat politician who serves as state secretary for the former East Germany, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Tuesday, “if we ban a party that we don’t like but which is consistently ahead in the polls, this will lead to even greater solidarity with it. And even from people who are not AfD sympathisers or voters. The collateral damage would be very high.” Schneider added that “a party ban is very difficult to enforce. I consider the…