Entire AfD secured right -wing extremist, says the protection of the constitution

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BFV) has classified the AfD as secure right -wing extremist. The authority justified this with “the extremist character of the entire party disregarding human dignity”. The domestic intelligence agency, the suspicion that the party pursued against the freedom-democratic basic order, has been confirmed and compressed in significant parts.

“The ethnic-parent understanding in the party is not compatible with the free democratic basic order,” said the security authority. It aims to exclude certain population groups from an equal social participation. “Specifically, the AfD, for example, considers German citizens with migration history from Muslim countries as not equivalent members of the German people defined by the party,” says the communication of the domestic secret service.

The party’s statements and positions and leading AfD representatives violate the principle of human dignity, explained the vice presidents of the authority, Sinan Selen and Silke Willems. This is decisive for the assessment that has now been made.

In the Bundestag election on February 23, the AfD had increased significantly. With 20.8 percent, it is the second strongest faction in parliament after the Union. In the upcoming black and red federal government, it is the largest opposition faction.

The state offices for the protection of the constitution in Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt had previously classified the respective AfD state associations as secure right-wing extremist endeavors. With the classification as secure right -wing extremist, from the perspective of the Federal Office, anti -constitutional efforts are also proven to be proven in the federal party.

After the media had reported a suspected classification of the entire party in February 2021 as a so -called suspicion, the protection of the constitution had to wait around a year at the behest of the Cologne Administrative Court until he was able to publicize this assessment and observed the party accordingly. In May 2024, the Higher Administrative Court of Münster ruled that the Protection of the Constitution rightly classified the AfD as a right -wing extremist suspicion. The legal dispute goes even further.

Even in the event of an observation as a suspected case, the use of intelligence agents is already allowed. These include the use of so-called V-people-these are people with access to internal information. Observations or image and sound recordings are also allowed. When selecting and using the funds, however, the principle of proportionality must be preserved.

In the case of a observation object that is extremist as secured, the threshold drops for the use of such means. The observation by the BFV has nothing to do with a ban on partying. Because this can only be requested from the Federal Constitutional Court by the Bundestag, Federal Council or the Federal Government. However, one of the three constitutional organs could feel encouraged by the new assessment of the domestic message service to make such an application.

The basis of the decision now made is an extensive report of the BFV, which is only intended for internal use. A publication of the internal working paper, in which knowledge from the past Bundestag election campaign has also been incorporated, is not intended.

According to Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, the Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser has come from politicians to classify the AfD as secure right -wing extremist. “There was no political influence on the new report,” said the SPD politician on Friday. The Federal Office had a clear legal mandate to act against extremism and protect democracy. “It works independently,” said Faeser. “The new classification is the result of a comprehensive and neutral examination, which is recorded in a 1100-page report.”

Faeser has cautioned to the possibility of a party ban. “A party ban procedure has very high constitutional hurdles for good reasons,” said the SPD politician in Wiesbaden. “You shouldn’t rule that out, but continue to handle it very carefully. In any case, there is no automatism.” The new assessment by the Protection of the Constitution shows that there are legal instruments “that protect our democracy against extremist threats”. This included the observation and evaluation by the protection of the constitution, as it was now.

The Greens welcomed the high classification of the AfD, which “in full with our constitution and the freedom-democratic basic order”. The parliamentary managing director Irene Mihalic and Vice -Movine leader Konstantin Notz, who is also chairman of the parliamentary control committee for the secret services, demanded consequences for dealing with the AfD in parliament: “Today’s decision is also a clear angle in the direction of those who recently advocated normalizing the party,” they said. “It is also an important building block with a view to the question of how the success of a possible AfD ban.”

Between the future coalition partners Union and the SPD, it is still open to how they behave in the Bundestag when it comes to the election of AfD representatives as chairs of committees. The designated Union parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn had recently asked to handle the AfD “as with any other opposition party”. On Friday, SPD interior expert Sebastian Hartmann rejected votes from the SPD for the AfD, which among other things could claim the chair of the important budget committee. “I think a choice of AfD representatives is excluded,” said Hartmann of the “Rheinische Post”.

The AfD had continued in surveys after the Bundestag election. In the ZDF Politbarometer published on Friday, however, the distance between the Union and the AfD increased again. In the survey of the research group, the Union increased elections to 27 percent, the AfD slipped to 23 percent.

Note: This article has been updated and further information was added.