(Adnkronos) – The German domestic intelligence service cannot define the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an extreme-right formation until the conclusion of the appeal against the definition. A Cologne court ruled today, granting AfD’s urgent request that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) await the results of the appeal before publicizing its decision.
Last year, the BfV elevated the definition of the AfD, the main opposition party which holds such radical anti-immigrant positions that several political figures have called for its ban, from “suspected” to “confirmed” case of right-wing extremism. The move came after an investigation into how the party’s ethno-nationalist positions constituted a threat to the German constitutional order. The new designation by the intelligence agency authorizes further surveillance measures of the AfD.
In today’s ruling, however, it is specified that even if there is sufficient certainty that efforts have been made within the AfD to undermine the democratic order, this does not mean that the entire party is “characterized in such a way that its entire image is described as anti-constitutional.” AfD leader Alice Weidel called the ruling “a great victory not only for the AfD, but for democracy and the rule of law,” even if from a practical point of view it will have minimal effect, given that intelligence had already suspended the definition pending the results of the appeal.
