German spy agency labels far-right AfD “extremist”

On Friday, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency designated the far-right Alternative for Germany as an extremist group that poses a threat to democracy, a decision that allows for more effective monitoring of the party that ranked second in February’s federal election.

The status is intended to facilitate the use of covert techniques by authorities to oversee the party, such as enlisting confidential informants and intercepting communications. The AfD did not respond right away to a request for comments.

The stigma and limitations on civil service jobs may also hinder its capacity to draw in members.

“The ethnicity- and ancestry-based conception of the people that predominates within the party is not compatible with the free democratic order,” the domestic intelligence agency said in a statement.

“It aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society, to subject them to treatment that violates the constitution, and thereby assign them a legally subordinate status.”

The AfD does not consider German citizens of immigrant background from predominantly Muslim countries as equal members of the German people, it added. This approach led to individuals and groups being “defamed and vilified”, stirring up “irrational fears and hostility toward them,” it added.

The choice arrives just days before conservative leader Friedrich Merz is set to be inaugurated as Germany’s new chancellor and during a tumultuous discussion regarding how to address the AfD in the upcoming parliament.

The party secured an unprecedented number of seats, which in theory qualifies it to lead multiple important parliamentary committees, although it would still require support from other parties.

Analysts indicated that the choice may further bolster support for the AfD and reinforce its narrative of being marginalized by a “cartel” of traditional parties. The party has led numerous surveys in recent weeks. Some groups within the AfD, like its youth branch, had already been identified as extremist, whereas the party as a whole was deemed a suspected extremist case in 2021.