In a landmark decision, the German Intelligence Service has classified the AfD political party as a “right-wing extremist” group. The party came in second place at the last German Federal Election in February 2025 and remains highly supported in the polls, even briefly overtaking the first place Conservative party in April.
What happened and what are the legal consequences for the AfD?
Previously, the Intelligence Service had designated three AfD branches in eastern Germany as extremist, with the wider party being placed “under review”. That review, the government body says, has now concluded, with the whole party now being classified as “extremist”.
The ruling means that Germany’s Intelligence Service can legally monitor AfD meetings, wire-tap phones and listen in on other means of communication between party leadership. The government agency can also recruit informants to report on the party. The investigation methods that can be used on the party are otherwise reserved for national security threats.
The new classification also puts pressure on AfD members who are government employees. Allegiance to what is now an extremist organization can be grounds for termination from the civil service, if the respective government body decides to open an investigation. This means party members working as teachers, judges or police officers could face termination because of their party membership.
Additionally, the party may face fiscal repercussions. In Germany, political parties are entitled to significant financial support from the federal government, and the AfD is no exception, with federal support constituting the bulk of its funding. That support can be cut for extremist parties, though, as happened last year with the far-right NPD party, which had all government funding cut for six years.
The party could face the same now, but there are some hurdles as a motion must be passed with a majority vote in parliament, and then the Supreme Court must approve for the funding to be cut. While it’s uncertain what will happen, the legal basis for punishment has been established.
Could the AfD be banned?
This announcement is likely to reignite the debate on banning the party entirely. The Intelligence Service cannot ban parties, but parliament can pass a motion to do so, which then has to be ratified by the Supreme Court.
In January, MPs from several parties submitted a motion to ban the party in parliament, but the proposal was delayed by the snap election. At the time, many MPs said they would only consider voting for a ban if the party was deemed extremist on a national level. With that now being the case, further motions towards this in parliament are likely. But, banning AfD could prove difficult even with majority support for it in parliament.
That is because the threshold of Supreme Court ratification is high: Although it did cut their federal funding, the court has twice rejected motions to ban the fringe NPD party.
NPD has been classified as extremist for decades, with allegations that it exhibits openly fascist tendencies. The party has been closely monitored by the Intelligence Service, but the Supreme Court said the Service had not proven that NPD was enough of an active threat to democracy to ban it. Experts say that if the court cannot even approve banning a party like NPD, it is hard to imagine that it would ratify an AfD ban.
What is the rationale behind the classification?
In its statement, the government body said it had found proof that the party was “advancing interests contrary to the free and democratic system of the German state”.
The Intelligence Service says it also believes the party is dominated by an “ethno-ancestral” understanding of who is German and who is not, and that the party is aiming to “limit the democratic participation” of certain groups, violating the principles of the German constitution, with the statement claiming that the “AfD, for instance, believes German citizens with a background from Islamic countries are not an equal part of German society.”
The report detailing the evidence the Intelligence Service cites for this classification will not be published, but according to information obtained by Public Broadcaster ZDF, the Intelligence Service came to its conclusion after analyzing AfD politicians’ quotes from recent federal and local elections, and identifying an alleged pattern of radicalization.
Founded in 2013 with a centre-right, EU-critical platform, the AfD soon made strict anti-immigration stances the core of its message during the 2015 refugee crisis, and has moved steadily to the right ever since. Many more moderate party members, including founder Bernd Lucke and long-time chairwoman Frauke Petry, have left the party and condemned its current leadership. Most recently, in 2022, chairman Jörg Meuthen stepped down and left the party, saying it had developed “totalitarian tendencies.”
Under the leadership of Meuthen’s successors Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the party has had its fair share of scandals. Last year, journalists uncovered a meeting near Berlin, where party politicians had met with members of the far-right “Identity Movement”, and discussed mass deportation plans, including the deportation of people with German passports.
At the recent federal election, the party fielded various controversial candidates. Its new group of MPs includes Matthias Helferich, who has described himself as the “friendly face of fascism”, while Maximilian Krah, a former candidate for the European Parliament, has been accused of trivializing the Holocaust, employing a Chinese spy in his office, and accepting money from Russia.
According to ZDF, several legal cases against AfD members also played a role in the Intelligence Service’s decision. The head of AfD in Thuringia, Björn Höcke, was convicted for using a nazi slogan in his election campaign last year. A former AfD MP from the state of Hesse is currently in jail and accused of conspiring to launch a coup attempt against the German government. In Saxony, the police arrested a local AfD councillor in November, accusing him of being the leader of what police describe as a right-wing terrorist group.
What are the political consequences for Germany and the AfD?
The announcement comes amidst a debate over the established parties’ relation to AfD. Although having been a major force in German politics for years, all parties have refused to enter into any cooperation with AfD, erecting an infamous “firewall” against the right-wing party both on a federal and a state level.
Two weeks ago, designated Conservative whip Jens Spahn had then advocated for a “normalization” of interactions with AfD in parliament, pointing out their massive support at the last election. The classification as extremist now seems to have shut down that debate and reinforced the firewall, with the Conservative president of parliament calling any cooperation of her party with AfD “unthinkable”.
AfD themselves have fought the Intelligence Service in the courts over the “review”, but it was defeated in 2024 after a district court in Cologne upheld the classification. The AfD is now expected to legally challenge the classification of extremist. Chairman Tino Chrupalla called it a “politically motivated attack on AfD,” and an “interference with democratic processes.”
Feautured image via Deutscher Bundestag/ Achim Melde.
