German intelligence classifies AfD as an "extremist" party that threatens democracy.

BarcelonaGermany's main opposition party has been formally classified as a right-wing "extremist" party and a threat to democracy. The country's intelligence services (BfV, or Office for the Protection of the Constitution) have thus classified the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a decision that could open the door to the party's future outlawing, although for now it still seems a remote possibility.

The BfV, which acts as the security service for the Ministry of the Interior, has argued that the AfD has positions "incompatible with the constitutional order," particularly due to its racist stances. "The conception of people based on ethnicity and ancestry that predominates within the party is not compatible with the free democratic order" and leads to "agitation against certain individuals or groups of people," especially minorities, it noted in a statement on Friday.

The body has reviewed "exhaustively and neutrally" the report it has on Alternative for Germany, which is around 1,100 pages long, and has referred to the "large number of anti-foreigner, anti-minority, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim statements" by the leaders of the far-right party.

The BfV had until now considered Alternative for Germany to be a "suspected case" of right-wing extremism, but has now raised it to a "confirmed case." This classification allows the authorities to increase their surveillance of the party, which He came second in the February federal elections with 20.8% of the vote, surpassing the Social Democratic Party, which came in third, for the first time. This allows the authorities to use secret methods to control the party, such as recruiting confidential informants, infiltrating the party, and intercepting communications.

"A severe blow to democracy"

The party's co-leaders, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, have made it clear that they will appeal the decision, which they described as "a coup against German democracy." "The AfD is being publicly discredited and criminalized shortly before the change of government," they lamented in a statement, and assured that the party "will continue to defend itself legally against these defamatory statements that endanger democracy."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also criticized the BfV's decision: "Germany has just given its spy agency new powers to monitor the opposition. That's not democracy, it's tyranny in disguise," he told X. He added that he believes the open-border and deadly immigration policies of the establishment that the AfD opposes are "really popular."

The German Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already designated the AfD branches in Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt, as well as the party's youth wing, as far-right extremist organizations. Last September, the Alternative for Germany achieved a historic milestone when won the Thuringian state elections by a wide marginIt was the first time a far-right party had won a German regional election since World War II, while in Saxony it came in second. The leader in Thuringia, the history professorBjörn Höcke, has been convicted twice for using Nazi slogans in public.

Open door to outlawry?

Intelligence services cannot pressure for the party's ban, but this decision may encourage other actors to initiate this process. This Friday, current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed caution, although he is not expected to play a prominent role in the next government. "I am against a hasty attempt [to outlaw the AfD]. We have to carefully evaluate the classification," he said. Later, Social Democratic Party leader Lars Klingbeil told the daily Picture that the incoming government will review whether to push through a ban on the party. "[The AfD] wants a different country, it wants to destroy our democracy. And we must take that very seriously," the likely future finance minister has said.

Parliament could also try to limit or stop public funding for the AfD, but for that, authorities would need evidence that the party explicitly wants to undermine or even overthrow German democracy.

The new German parliament (Bundestag) was formed at the end of March, where it is visible the boost that the extreme right has received in recent years. The AfD now holds twice as many seats as it did in the previous legislative session: from 77 to 152. However, the cordon sanitaire (a sanitary cordon) around the other parties has isolated the extremists from negotiations to form a government. Next week, the Bundestag will vote on the investiture. by the conservative Friedrich Merz as chancellor in a coalition with the Social Democrats.

Once the government was formed, debate began about how the other parties should relate to Alternative for Germany, after some members of Merz's CDU party suggested that relations with it should be the same as with any other party, although their Social Democratic partners have welcomed this.