German intelligence agencies AfD as extremist

German intelligence agencies AfD as extremist

The German interior authority has the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (afd) officially as extremist Organisation eingestuft, die die Demokratie bedroht. Diese Entscheidung ermöglicht eine umfassendere Überwachung der Partei, die bei den Bundestagswahlen im Februar den zweiten Platz belegte.

Überwachung und Maßnahmen der Behörden

The assessment of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BFV) is based on a 1,100-page expert report that characterizes the AfD as racist and anti-Islam. This classification allows the authorities to observe the party more intensively, among other things by recruiting informants and intercepting communication.

Folgen der Einstufung

The negative classification could also affect the AfD's ability to attract new members and endanger the party's public funding. While the AfD, which is currently at the top in several surveys, condemned this decision, political analysts warn that this could further fuel support for the party.

Aussagen des Verfassungsschutzes

In a statement, the interior agency said: "Central to our assessment, the concept of the people, which is defined ethnically and in ancestation, is, which shapes the AfD and devalues entire population groups in Germany and violates its human dignity." Dieses Konzept spiegelt sich in der grundsätzlichen anti-migrantischen und anti-muslimischen Haltung der Partei wider.

The AfD "defamed and defamed" and "stoked" irrational fears and hostilities, "the BFV explained.

Reaktionen aus der AfD und der politischen Debatte

In the first reaction to the report, Anton Baron, the chairman of a regional parliamentary group of the AfD: "It is unfortunate to see in what condition the democracy is in our country when the established parties reach the most questionable means to take action against the strongest opposition party."

Konservative Herausforderungen und die Zukunft der AfD

The decision of the Protection of the Constitution is made shortly before the conservative party leader Friedrich Merz was sworn in as the new Federal Chancellor and in the middle of a heated debate within his party on dealing with the AfD in the new parliament. Die AfD erhielt eine Rekordanzahl von Sitzen und könnte theoretisch mehrere wichtige parlamentarische Ausschüsse leiten.

Meinungen und Strategien der politischen Akteure

The prominent ally of Merz, Jens Spahn, has demanded that the AfD to treat the AfD like a regular opposition party in the parliamentary procedure, as this could prevent the party from accepting a "victim" narrative. However, other established parties and many from Spahn's own faction reject this approach and could use the news from Friday as justification to take over the attempts by the AfD, key positions in committees.

Die Relevanz der Klassifizierung

"There is a conflict between the claim of a party to adopt the committee position based on their size and the freedom of conscience of the MPs," explains political scientist Wolfgang Schroeder from the University of Kassel. "Now these members can argue that AfD representatives do not meet the necessary standards. The signs are increasing that the AfD is not a normal party, and therefore it will continue to be marginalized."

Zukünftige politische Maßnahmen gegen die AfD

Die Klassifizierung könnte Bestrebungen neu entfachen, die AfD zu verbannen. However, the outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrats in Merz ’new coalition, advised the junior partner, from a quick abolition of the AfD. "I am against a quick shot, we have to carefully evaluate the classification," he said on Friday during a church convention in the north German city of Hanover.

The German parliament could also try to restrict or stop the public financing of the AfD, but the authorities would need to prove that the party explicitly aims to undermine or even fall German democracy.

Die Entwicklung der AfD

Certain currents within the AfD, such as the youth organization, have already been classified as extremist, while the entire party was classified as a suspected case in 2021. According to Germany, the Eurosceptic AfD, founded in 2013, was transformed into an anti-migration policy party.

The need for a certain classification by the BFV to be able to monitor a political party, illustrates the legal restrictions that the authority is subject to compared to other European secret services - a reaction to the country's experiences under the National Socialist and Communist rule.