AfD
classified as extreme-right by German intelligence
Paul Kirby
Europe
digital editor
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy6zk9wkrdo
The AfD won
a record number of seats in federal elections in February
Germany's
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has been designated as right-wing
extremist by the country's federal office for the protection of the
constitution.
"The
ethnicity- and ancestry-based conception of the people that predominates within
the party is not compatible with the free democratic order," the domestic
intelligence agency said in a statement.
The AfD came
second in federal elections in February, winning a record 152 seats in the
630-seat parliament with 20.8% of the vote.
The
parliament, or Bundestag, will hold a vote next week to confirm conservative
leader Friedrich Merz as chancellor, heading a coalition with the centre-left
Social Democrats.
The
far-right AfD had already been placed under observation for suspected extremism
in Germany, and the intelligence agency had also classed it as right-wing
extremist in three states in the east, where its popularity is highest.
The agency,
or Verfassungschutz, said specifically that the AfD did not consider citizens
of a "migration background from predominantly Muslim countries" as
equal members of the German people.
Outgoing
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the agency had made its decision after a
comprehensive review with "no political influence".
It is
thought the change in designation of the AfD enables domestic intelligence
agencies to lower the threshold for using informants and surveillance in
monitoring the party.
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