The German Domestic Intelligence Agency said on Friday that it has designated the German (AFD) party alternative as a confirmed “right-wing extremist” group that “ignored human dignity.”
The new classification is the result of a comprehensive review, and its findings were presented in the 1100-page report. Just a few days under Germany's new Conservative government will take office under future Prime Minister Friedrich Merz.
The agency said the Federal Office for Constitutional Protection (BFV) said there is now concrete evidence that the anti-immigrant party is pursuing efforts to threaten Germany's democratic order.
“The party’s general understanding of the people based on race and descendants is incompatible with the basic order of liberal democracy,” the agency said.
The statements and positions of the Party and leading AFD representatives violate the constitutional principles of inviolability of human dignity, indicating that the agency's vice presidents, Sinan Selen and Silke Willems.
The agency said in particular that the AFD believes that countries dominated by Muslims are unequal citizens who consider German citizens to be unequal citizens.
The party's three regional branches – in the eastern part of Thuringi, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt – have been classified as confirmed right-wing extremist groups.
The Kuomintang soared to second place in the February general election after being held by the agency as “suspected” extremist status. The party challenged the title in court.
The court maintained the classification in May 2024, allowing BFV to be monitored, allowing IT to use party informants, images and sound recordings in proportion.
The identified names of right-wing extremist groups have lowered the threshold for such surveillance measures.
BFV surveillance has nothing to do with party bans and can only be claimed by a constitutional court of the German parliament or the government itself.
Outgoing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stressed that the BFV’s decision was independent, not politically motivated. “There is no political influence in the new report,” she said in a statement.
“The federal office that protects the Constitution has clear legal mandates to combat extremism and protect our democracy,” she said.
Founded in 2013, AFD is an anti-European party, and with the prominence of nationalists and far-rights, AFD quickly shifted its direction, prompting many of its original members to leave.
The party gained great momentum during the 2015 refugee crisis, when thousands of asylum seekers entered Germany.
In the 2017 federal election, the AFD became the third largest party in the House of Commons, receiving 12.6% of the national vote. Although its share fell to 10.4% in 2021, the party’s rebound has rebounded strongly this year, doubled its support to 20.8%.
Despite the national gains, the AFD's biggest support remains concentrated in eastern Germany.
