German intelligence confirms AfD as 'right-wing extremist' party

Germany's domestic intelligence agency said on Friday it has designated the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a confirmed "right-wing extremist" organization that "disregards human dignity."

The new classification is the result of a comprehensive review, the findings of which are laid out in a 1,100-page report. It comes just days before Germany's new conservative-led government is set to take office under future chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The agency, called the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), said there was now concrete evidence that the anti-immigrant party pursues efforts that threaten Germany's democratic order.

"The party's prevailing understanding of the people based on ethnicity and descent is incompatible with the free democratic basic order," the agency said.

Statements and positions by the party and leading AfD representatives violate the constitutional principle of the inviolability of human dignity, stated the agency's vice presidents, Sinan Selen and Silke Willems.

Specifically, the agency said the AfD considers German citizens with roots in predominantly Muslim countries to be unequal citizens.

Three regional branches of the party - in the eastern states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt - have already been classified as confirmed right-wing extremist organizations.

The national party, which soared to a second-place finish in February's general election, previously held "suspected" extremist status by the agency. The party unsuccessfully challenged that designation in court.

The courts upheld the classification in May 2024, allowing the BfV to have the party under surveillance, enabling it proportionate use of party informants, image and sound recordings.

The designation as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization lowers the threshold for such surveillance measures.

Surveillance by the BfV has no connection to bans on political parties, which can only be requested from the Constitutional Court by one of Germany's houses of parliament or the government itself.

Outgoing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser emphasized that the BfV's decision was independent and not politically motivated. "There has been no political influence whatsoever on the new report," she said in a statement.

"The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has a clear legal mandate to combat extremism and protect our democracy," she said.

Founded in 2013 as an anti-euro party, the AfD quickly shifted direction as nationalist and far-right figures rose to prominence, prompting many of its original members to depart.

The party gained significant momentum during the 2015 refugee crisis, when hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers entered Germany.

In the 2017 federal election, the AfD emerged as the third-largest party in the lower house of parliament, securing 12.6% of the national vote. Although its share dropped to 10.4% in 2021, the party rebounded strongly this year, doubling its support to 20.8%.

Despite its nationwide gains, the AfD's strongest support remains concentrated in eastern Germany.