Germany labels youth wing of far-right AfD party as extremist group
Domestic security bureau’s move allows tougher monitoring of group as it pursues ‘anti-constitutional endeavors’ and spreads ‘hatred and exclusion’
BERLIN — Germany’s domestic security agency said Wednesday it has classed the youth wing of the far-right AfD party as a “confirmed” extremist organization, allowing it to be placed under intensive surveillance.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said it had made the move after four years of investigations into the group.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) youth wing is clearly xenophobic and likely to adopt “non-peaceful behavior” towards people perceived as foreign, the BfV said in a statement.
Two other “new right” organizations, the EinPercent association and the Institute for State Policy (IfS) think-tank, were also classified as “confirmed” extremists.
“There is no longer any doubt that these three groups of people are pursuing anti-constitutional endeavors,” said Thomas Haldenwang, Germany’s domestic security chief.
“These actors of the so-called ‘new right’ spread nothing but hatred and exclusion,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
“They try to combine this with a supposedly educated, more modern face. But the inhuman ideologies behind it are clear.”
The AfD’s youth wing had already been classed as a “suspected case” of right-wing extremism, allowing intelligence agents to tap its communications and possibly use undercover informants.
The new label as a “confirmed” case gives the authorities even more leeway to closely monitor the organization.
In 2021, the entire AfD was classified as a “suspected case.”
However, the move was suspended by an administrative court in Cologne based on a legal technicality.
The AfD has had a presence in the German parliament since 2017 and is currently the third most popular party in Germany, according to some opinion polls.
