Germany: AfD youth group can be classified as 'extremist'

A German administrative court on Monday ruled that the youth wing of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) may be classified by Germany's domestic intelligence service as a "certified right-wing extremist endeavor."

In the decision announced on Tuesday, an administrative court in the western city of Cologne rejected an injunction by the AfD and its "Junge Alternative"(JA), or Young Alternative, which sought to remove the classification.

The ruling this week is also open to appeal at a higher court.

What did the court say? 

In a summary, the court said it was "convinced that the JA is an extremist organization."

The court said JA propagated an "ethno-nationalist view" of German society, which seeks the preservation of the German people in their ethnic structure and, if possible, would exclude "ethnic foreigners."

Part of this, the court said was demonstrated by the group's "continued agitation" against foreigners, especially those with a Muslim background.

Additionally, "JA campaigns against the principle of democracy and maintains connections to organizations that are classified as unconstitutional, such as the 'Identitarian Movement,'" the court said.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser welcomed the ruling. 

"Today's decision clearly states that we are dealing with massive contempt for humanity, with racism, with hatred against Muslims and with attacks on our democracy," she said.

Surveillance of the far-right in Germany

In April 2023, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, officially called the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), upgraded the JA to the extremist classification, which allows, among other things, for increased surveillance of the group's or its members' activities as a potential danger to Germany's democratic system.

The BfV collects and analyzes information on extremist and terrorist as well as foreign intelligence service activities in Germany. It is also tasked with reconnaissance.

The agency has long had its eyes on the AfD and JA. The group's membership is said to continue showing signs of increasing radicalization.

This includes inciting hatred against refugees and migrants, propagating an ethno-nationalist view of German society, and promoting the idea that Germans who are part of immigrant communities are second-class citizens.

In making its initial decision, the BfV said the JA was "consolidating" and "intensifying" the content of these "extremist" positions.

It added JA's activities were aimed at a "general degradation" of Germany's "democratic system."

Beyond increased surveillance, and any potential prosecutions that may stem from this, there are comparatively few other steps German authorities can take. The most drastic would be an outright ban on the party but the bar for this is extremely high.

Germany's Interior Ministry has banned several far-right extremist organizations in the past, but a blanket ban on an established political party has only ever happened twice, both times in the 1950s — against openly fascist and communist parties.

A more recent effort to outlaw the neo-nazi NPD in Germany petered out, but did lead to the party's access to taxpayer funds being suspended for at least six years.

wmr/msh (dpa, AFP)

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