A German court has granted a temporary injunction that prevents the nation’s domestic intelligence service from labeling the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as a “right-wing extremist” group.
The far-right AfD party had contested the classification that was first announced by German intelligence services last May. The court in Cologne has now issued an injunction, prohibiting the use of the term “right-wing extremist” until a final ruling is delivered on the matter.
Alice Weidel, a co-leader of the AfD, described the court’s decision as a “major victory not only for the AfD but also for democracy and the rule of law.”
The AfD achieved a second-place finish in Germany’s federal elections last year. This election saw the party secure a record 152 seats in the 630-seat parliament, garnering 20.8% of the national vote.
Background of the Intelligence Service’s Assessment
In its decision disseminated last May, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, known as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), stated its conclusion that “the ethnicity- and ancestry-based understanding of the people prevailing within the party is incompatible with the free democratic order.”
A formal designation as an extremist group typically grants authorities expanded surveillance capabilities. Indeed, the AfD had already been placed under observation by the intelligence agency due to suspected extremist activities within Germany. The agency had also previously categorized the party as right-wing extremist in three eastern German states, regions where the party’s popularity is notably higher.
The AfD chose to challenge this label in Cologne, the city where the BfV is headquartered, which accounts for the administrative court’s issuance of Thursday’s injunction.
The court did not provide a timeline for when its final ruling on the matter would be issued.
The Role of German Domestic Intelligence
As part of its mandate to safeguard Germany’s “free democratic basic order,” the domestic intelligence agency is tasked with both counter-intelligence operations and the investigation of terror threats.
Under Germany’s Basic Law, the country’s post-war constitution adopted in 1949, political parties that “deliberately undermine the functioning of Germany’s free democratic basic order” are subject to being banned. This ban can be enacted if such parties engage in “militant and aggressive” actions. Consequently, several German politicians have advocated for the outright prohibition of the AfD.
Since the conclusion of World War Two, Germany’s Constitutional Court has banned only two political parties, both of which occurred during the 1950s.