German court defeat deals fresh blow to far-right party AfD

MEUNSTER, Germany (AFP) — The Alternative for Germany, known by its German initials AfD, suffered a stinging defeat Monday as a court threw out its bid to stop Germany’s intelligence services from investigating it as a suspected right-wing extremist organization.

The ruling is another blow for the party ahead of key EU and regional elections, and comes with the party already reeling from a Chinese spying scandal, as well as claims of links to Russia.

The legal dispute started in 2021 when the domestic intelligence agency, or BfV, labelled the party a “suspected” right-wing extremist group, giving authorities more power to gather intelligence on it.

The party challenged the move in the courts but on Monday the Higher Administrative Court in Muenster, western Germany, rejected the party’s appeal.

The party “has no right to demand that the BfV refrain from monitoring it,” said the court, adding that existing laws “provide a sufficient legal basis for observation as a suspected case.”

The court has been hearing arguments in the case since March.

The party’s lawyers claimed statements made by its members, which have been collected by the intelligence agency as evidence to support their arguments, were “the aberrations of individuals” and should not be attributed to the party as a whole, which has some 45,000 members.

But the lawyer representing the agency said the statements, highlighting what it says are extremism, were “not just the individual opinions of a few people.”

They were taken from a large number of statements by high-ranking officials and elected representatives with considerable political influence, and have a “very clear” impact on political life in Germany, the lawyer said.

In 2022 a lower court in Cologne had already dismissed an appeal against the agency’s move to label the AfD a suspected right-wing extremist group, leading the party to turn to the Muenster court.

Mired in scandal

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Chancellor Olaf Scholz hailed the ruling as evidence that “our constitutional state protects our democracy — also against threats from within.”

But a party spokesman criticized an “inadequate clarification of the facts,” saying that authorities had not followed up on hundreds of requests for further evidence.

This failure “borders on a refusal to work,” he added. The party said it intends to lodge a further appeal at the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig.

Created in 2013 as an anti-euro outfit before morphing into an anti-immigration party, the AfD last year enjoyed a resurgence as Germany struggled with a surge in migration and a weak economy.

But its popularity has wavered amid the recent scandals, and Monday’s verdict will heap further pressure on the party.

It comes just weeks before European Parliament elections, at which the AfD — like other far-right parties in Europe — is hoping to make gains.

And in September three eastern German states, where the party has been leading in the polls, will hold closely-watched elections.

Some German media reported Monday the court ruling could clear the way for the intelligence services to take a further step against the party by labelling it a “confirmed” right-wing extremist group — which would give authorities further powers to monitor them.

Several local branches of the party have already been given this classification.

The party’s most recent scandal came last month when the aide of Maximilian Krah, an AfD European Parliament lawmaker, was arrested on suspicion of spying for China.

Krah had previously been caught up in Russian propaganda allegations.

In January, an investigation by media group Correctiv indicated AfD members had discussed [the idea of mass deportations](https://www.courthousenews.com/germanys-afd-sets-up-talks-with-le-pen-in-remigration-row/(opens in a new tab)) at a meeting with extremists, leading to a wave of protests across the country.

On Tuesday a court is due to deliver a verdict on whether Bjoern Hoecke, an AfD member and one of Germany’s most controversial politicians, deliberately used a Nazi slogan at a rally.

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By THORBEN BEHRING Agence France-Presse