Afd german political party right wing
© NGCHIYUI/ShutterstockGörlitz, Germany. AUG16, 2024. the right-wing political party Alternative for Germany. Afd booth in Gorlitz, Germany.
Germany's AfD has filed suit against the country's political police, claiming the last government improperly pushed through its extremist classification just before leaving office.

Germany's right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), accusing the agency of unlawfully designating it as a "confirmed right-wing extremist" group in the final days of the outgoing left-wing government.

The legal filing, submitted to the Cologne administrative court where the BfV is based, follows the agency's failure to respond to a formal demand from AfD leadership to reverse the classification decision. The party, currently the second-largest in Germany and the official opposition in parliament, said the BfV's designation is "manifestly unlawful" and announced the court action on Monday morning, according to Handelsblatt.

The classification grants the BfV sweeping surveillance powers over the party and its members, fueling debate over whether a democratically elected opposition party can or should be subject to state security oversight. Some government officials and media voices have openly floated the idea of banning the AfD entirely — a possibility permitted under German law in rare cases where a party is deemed actively anti-democratic.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser
© AFPGerman Interior Minister Nancy Faeser
The lawsuit was filed on the same day the new center-right-led coalition government was preparing to take office, raising allegations that the designation was politically timed. Bild reported Monday that outgoing Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had "pushed hard" to publish the extremist designation before leaving office, treating the decision as a final act of her administration.

New Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, set to be sworn in Tuesday, has called for a full review of the BfV's report. "This report will not disappear into a filing cabinet," he said, pledging to have the top brass of the BfV explain and justify the classification.

While Dobrindt acknowledged the controversy, he expressed skepticism toward banning the AfD outright, stating, "There's a political challenge that needs to be resolved. I would prioritise that, not a debate about a ban." According to Die Welt, he argued the AfD lacks the "aggressive and militant" characteristics required for such an action under Germany's legal threshold.

Despite this stance, figures such as German political commentator Michel Friedman insist a ban may soon be warranted. Writing in Die Welt, Friedman asserted that anyone who cooperates with or votes for the AfD makes themselves "an accomplice" to an "anti-democratic party."

"The AfD may have been democratically elected, but that doesn't make it a democratic party," Friedman wrote, adding, "We are a resilient democracy that can initiate ban proceedings if necessary. Perhaps not yet. But perhaps soon."

As the AfD challenges its designation in court, the legal and political fallout from the BfV's decision is expected to intensify in the coming weeks, with both domestic and EU observers watching how Germany balances democratic representation and constitutional safeguards.