German domestic intelligence service allowed to observe far-right AfD party

GENEVA

The domestic intelligence service in the German state of Bavaria is allowed to observe the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and inform the public about it, a state court ruled Friday.

As there are indications the AfD has anti-constitutional aspirations, the Bavarian Administrative Court rejected a complaint by the party against observation by the domestic intelligence service, the court said in a press release.

In June 2022, the Bavarian domestic intelligence service decided to monitor the AfD to find out what influence extremist currents had within the party as a whole and what direction the party was developing in.

The far-right AfD gained popularity during the 2015 refugee crisis and entered the German parliament for the first time in 2017 with more than 12% of the vote. The party is now also represented in the state parliaments of 14 out of 16 German states.

Leading members of the party have sparked controversy in recent years with anti-immigrant, antisemitic, and Islamophobic statements.

Critics accuse the AfD of fomenting xenophobia and anti-Muslim racism in Germany, which has led to a rise in extremist violence.

After the left-wing party Die Linke, the AfD is only the second party in Germany that, although it has entered parliament, may be observed as an entire party by the domestic intelligence service.

New polls put the AfD at around 21-23%, which would make it second in Germany only to the conservative CDU.

The court ruling comes shortly before next month’s state elections in Bavaria. Polls in Bavaria put the AfD at 13-14%, making it the number four party in the state, the second-most populous in Germany, including the cities of Munich and Nuremberg.