YES the AFD under observation: Where the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is looking closely

Now also the youth organization of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in Thuringia: The state Office for the Protection of the Constitution there classifies the Junge Alternative (JA) Thuringia as definitely right-wing extremist. The State Ministry of the Interior in Erfurt announced this on Thursday.

“The current Thuringia correctional institution regularly refers to an ethnically homogeneous German state people and a community of German descent,” was the justification. Such an idea formulates biological assumptions about who can be German and who cannot. This contradicts the Basic Law. The Thuringia correctional institution works in an “action-oriented and experience-oriented manner in order to give the impression that its anti-constitutional positions are capable of attracting a public majority.”

The administrative court in Cologne had already allowed the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to classify and treat the JA as a “certain right-wing extremist effort” in February. Most recently, the Münster Higher Administrative Court decided that the domestic secret service can list the JA “parent organization” AfD as a “suspected right-wing extremist case”.

The cases are by no means the only ones in which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies a branch of the AfD as a suspected anti-constitutional case or even as definitely right-wing extremist.

Thomas Haldenwang, President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has repeatedly stressed in the past that his agency currently considers right-wing extremism to be the greatest threat to the free and democratic basic order of the Federal Republic. Meanwhile, several AfD sub-organizations nationwide are classified as suspected right-wing extremist cases and are monitored accordingly – unique in the German party landscape. The overview:

AfD state associations in the focus of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution

According to the respective constitutional protection agencies, three of the 16 AfD state associations are considered to be definitely right-wing extremist, including the Thuringian association of state party leader Björn Höcke, which is considered to be particularly radical. Six other state associations are listed as suspected cases.

* In Bavaria, the category of “suspected case” does not officially exist, but the AfD regional association there is monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Young Alternative in the focus of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Where there is a party, there is also a youth organization. In the case of the AfD, this is the JA for members between 14 and 36; according to “Spiegel,” there are around 2,100. The JA is therefore one of the largest associations within the party – and is also of particular interest to the secret services in several federal states. The classification of the NRW-JA as a suspected right-wing extremist case was the sixth of its kind. In December, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution also considered four state JA associations to be definitely right-wing extremist – now it is the entire organization.

Other AfD groups in the focus of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Until its (at least official) dissolution, the ethnic-nationalist group The Wing within the AfD was also monitored by intelligence services as a suspected case. Up to 7,000 supporters were attributed to it. Its leading figures included two right-wing extremist politicians, Björn Höcke and Andreas Kalbitz. Since The Wing was a rather informal circle, it is difficult to prove that it was actually dissolved. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution has not published any findings that indicate that the activities have ceased.

Overall, according to the 2022 Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the BfV assumes that around 10,000 members of the AfD, i.e. almost a third, are extremists.

The AfD has repeatedly criticized the actions of the secret services as being politically motivated and sees its (basic) rights as being restricted as an opposition party. Several court cases against the classifications of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution are still open. The authorities are required to make their assessments based on objective criteria and have made these public – at least in part – in their annual reports.

Sources: Constitutional Protection Reports 2022 from the State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution,News agencies DPA and AFP

Note from the editors: This article was first published on December 12, 2023 and has been extensively updated. The maps were last updated on May 23, 2024.