Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, has temporarily suspended its classification of the right-wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as a “right-wing extremist” group.
The agency said on Thursday, May 8th, that it would not publicly refer to the AfD as an extremist movement until the AfD’s lawsuit against the BfV on the matter is settled.
The extremist classification announced last week allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD, the country’s most popular party, for example by recruiting informants and intercepting party communications.
The party filed a lawsuit earlier this week against the BfV, saying the decision was clearly “politically motivated” and represents a “severe blow to German democracy.”
Following the announcement on Thursday that its classification would be temporarily suspended, party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said, “This is a first important step towards our actual exoneration and thus countering the accusation of right-wing extremism.”
