Germany's BfV Suspends AfD's 'Right-Wing Extremist' Label Pending Cologne Court Ruling

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Updated May 8, 2025, 03:12 PM

Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), has temporarily suspended its classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a 'right-wing extremist' entity. This decision follows a legal challenge filed by the AfD against the classification, which was announced on 2. Mai. The AfD's leaders, Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, have welcomed this move as a step towards their exoneration.

The suspension will remain in effect until the Administrative Court of Cologne rules on the AfD's request for an injunction. The BfV has committed to not publicly referring to the AfD as a 'confirmed right-wing extremist movement' during this period. The court has not specified when a decision will be made, and the process could take several weeks or months.

The AfD, which secured the second-largest number of seats in the recent federal elections, had been classified as a 'right-wing extremist' party based on a comprehensive internal report by the BfV. This report, which spans over 1,000 pages and was received by the Interior Ministry on 28. April, concluded that the AfD's ideology devalues entire groups of the population in Germany and undermines their human dignity, a stance deemed incompatible with the country's democratic order. The report criticized statements from AfD officials like 'Jeder Fremde mehr in diesem Land ist einer zu viel'. The classification had sparked debate about a potential ban on the party, especially as it came just before the end of Nancy Faeser's term as Interior Minister on behalf of the SPD. The decision also strained relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump, who had supported the AfD.

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