German spy agency calls AfD ‘extremist’

• The German domestic intelligence service has classified the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a “right-wing extremist” organization.

• The party is viewed as a threat to the country’s democratic order, causing “ongoing agitation” against refugees and migrants.

• The classification allows officials to use informants and other tools to monitor AfD’s activities nationwide.

• The move risks fueling AfD’s claims of political persecution.

• Party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla condemned the move as a “severe blow to German democracy.”

• The intelligence service argues that AfD’s understanding of German identity based on ethnicity is incompatible with the free democratic basic order.