The ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) has challenged in court the decision of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany to declare it a ‘right-wing extremist party’.
The lawsuit was filed in the administrative court in Cologne, where the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is based, Deutsche Welle writes. The fact of the appeal to the court confirmed the co-chair of the AfD Alice Weidel, the details of the appeal are not specified.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution declared the AfD a ‘right-wing extremist party’ on 2 May 2025 after several years of monitoring its activities. The extremist party status does not mean a ban on the AfD’s activities, but it does give police the right to make extensive use of wiretaps and other surveillance methods.
The AfD came second in Germany’s parliamentary elections in February, winning a record number of votes. The party will not be represented in the coalition government; the first-place CDU/CSU bloc refused to cooperate with it.
