Germany’s domestic intelligence service has designated the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the biggest opposition party, as a ‘confirmed rightwing extremist’ force, meaning authorities can step up their surveillance as critics call for it to be legally banned.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) previously considered the anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin party a ‘suspected’ threat to Germany’s democratic order, with three of its regional chapters in eastern states and its youth wing classed as confirmed extremist. The AfD, which came second in the February general election with just over 20% of the vote, said it would challenge the BfV’s decision in court.
The BfV said it had concluded that racist and anti-Muslim stances advanced by the AfD, based on an ‘ethnic ancestry-based understanding’ of German identity, were ‘incompatible with the free democratic basic order’ set out in the country’s constitution
