Germany’s domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the far-right AfD party as an extremist group, handing authorities greater powers to monitor it and fuelling calls for it to be banned.<\/p>\n
The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) slammed the move as a “heavy blow” to democracy, just months after they won second place in national polls, and vowed to mount a legal challenge.<\/p>\n
The BfV domestic intelligence agency, which had already designated several local AfD branches as right-wing extremist groups, said it decided to give the entire party the label due to its attempts to “undermine the free, democratic” order in Germany.<\/p>\n
It cited in particular the “xenophobic, anti-minority, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim statements made by leading party officials”.<\/p>\n
The classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the party by lowering the barriers for such steps as intercepting telephone calls and deploying undercover agents.<\/p>\n
The decision drew swift condemnation from the conservative US administration. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the move “tyranny in disguise” and said “Germany should reverse course”.<\/p>\n
The designation revived calls within Germany to ban the party, however, heightening political tensions in Europe’s top economy where conservative Friedrich Merz is to become chancellor next Tuesday leading a coalition government with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).<\/p>\n
Lars Klingbeil, an SPD politician set to become vice-chancellor and finance minister in the coalition, said the government would examine the possibility of banning the AfD.<\/p>\n
“They want a different country, they want to destroy our democracy. And we must take that very seriously,” he told Bild newspaper, although he added the coalition would not make a hasty decision.<\/p>\n
Incoming interior minister Alexander Dobrindt added that the spy agency’s move “inevitably means there will be further observation of the AfD”.<\/p>\n
AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla charged in a statement that their party was “being publicly discredited and criminalised”, and that the decision was “clearly politically motivated” — a claim denied by the outgoing government.<\/p>\n
Announcing its decision, the intelligence agency said that the AfD “aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society”.<\/p>\n
In particular, the AfD does not consider German citizens with a migrant background from countries with large Muslim populations to be “equal members of the German people”, it added.<\/p>\n
– Welter of controversies –<\/p>\n
The party, founded in 2013, has surged in popularity by capitalising on growing concern about migration while Germany has suffered from a recession.<\/p>\n
It won more than 20 percent of the vote in February’s election, a record result and behind only the centre-right CDU\/CSU bloc of Merz.<\/p>\n
More recent opinion polls have shown the party running neck-and-neck or even slightly ahead of the CDU\/CSU alliance.<\/p>\n
In a country still haunted by its Nazi past in World War II, establishment parties have vowed not to go into government or work with the AfD.<\/p>\n
Merz breached this so-called “firewall” during the election campaign by relying on its support to pass a parliamentary motion demanding tougher immigration measures. That sparked widespread anger and nationwide protests.<\/p>\n
He has since insisted he will not work with the AfD as he has formed a coalition with the SPD.<\/p>\n
The AfD during the election campaign won the enthusiastic backing of tech billionaire Elon Musk, a close adviser to US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Musk said only the AfD could “save Germany”, appeared by video at one of their rallies and hosted an interview with Weidel on his platform X.<\/p>\n
On Friday he said that banning the AfD “would be an extreme attack on democracy”.<\/p>\n
The party has faced frequent controversies. One leading member has been convicted for using a banned Nazi slogan and others have been criticised for downplaying Nazi atrocities.<\/p>\n
It has also faced allegations of close ties to Russia. This week a former aide to an AfD European Parliament lawmaker was charged over suspected spying on behalf of China.<\/p>\n
AfD supporter Manuela Spitzwieser, a 54-year-old cleaner from the western city of Duisburg, echoed the party’s claim that the BfV decision was politically motivated.<\/p>\n
“It’s totally obvious — at the moment the AfD is leading in the polls,” she told AFP.<\/p>\n
She predicted that if the party was banned there would be civil unrest “like they had in France with the yellow vests… or we would found a new party which would go through the roof at the next election.”<\/p>\n
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