The German Internal Intelligence Service suspends AFD classification as a “right -handed” organization

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BFV), the German Internal Intelligence Service, will temporarily suspend the classification of the AFD party as a “right -wing extremist” group while waiting for a judicial appeal, a court announced on Thursday, according to AFP.

BFV had announced last week that he was giving this label for the Alternative Anti-Immigration Party for Germany (AFD), after a long investigation, and accused the formation of trying to undermine the country's democracy.

AFD, which ranked 2nd position in the February elections, being exceeded only by the conservatives of the new German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, cataloged the BFV decision as a politically motivated action and filed a legal appeal.

The Koln Court announced on Thursday that BFV will no longer catalog AFD as an organization “confirmed as an extremist” in the public space and will eliminate from the institution's website the press release regarding this classification.

The court stated that BFV takes these measures without recognizing any legal liability and awaits the result of the AFD appeal.

Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupella, AFD leaders, told X that the party achieved “a partial success”.

“It is an important first step to (…) fight the accusations of right -wing extremism,” the two leaders said.

BFV charges for AFD

Justifying his decision to classify the party as an “extremist”, BFV accused the AFD top members of making “xenophobic” and “antimusulmane” statements.

The approach facilitated the party monitoring operations and relaunched the calls for its prohibition, although an outdoor removal should be voted by the Parliament, and the new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, reacted coldly to such suggestions.

According to Der Spiegel, BFV has found incriminating materials about 353 AFD members, including from the highest levels of the party, and accuses the formation of distinguishing between so-called “true” German ethnicities and those who only have a German passport.

Although BFV publicly communicated the final decision, the full report – over 1,000 pages – was not made public, which fueled the accusations that the classification was politically motivated.

The former government, led by the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, denied the existence of any political influence.

The situation triggered a transatlantic dispute, with the US Vice-President, JD Vance, and the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, positioning themselves in the AFD defense.