The German right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence agency for its official labelling of the AfD as a “right-wing extremist” party.
The classification of the party as an extremist organisation could pave the way for the party to be banned—a clearly authoritarian measure by the ruling elites who clearly want to get rid of their political rival, which is currently the most popular party in Germany.
The AfD on Monday, May 5th, lodged a challenge against the BfV’s designation with the administrative court in the western city of Cologne.
On the weekend, co-leader of the party Tino Chrupalla said that the BfV reports to the interior ministry which was most recently led by Thomas Haldenwang, a member of the centre-right CDU party. Such means to fight the opposition are “not used in any other Western democracy,” Chrupalla said.
The aim is to discredit and defame us, to exclude us because we speak the truth. If you address problems, you’re now a right-wing extremist in this country. We will not allow our opinions and our positions to be banned.
In an op-ed for conservative publication Nius.de, the former leader of the BfV, Hans-Georg Maaßen writes that the decision to classify the AfD as an extremist party is not an independent but a purely political decision, based on political interests—despite interior minister Nancy Faeser suggesting otherwise.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is neither a neutral nor a politically independent authority. At the federal level, it is subordinate to the Federal Ministry of the Interior and is bound by its instructions.
According to Maaßen, the interior minister “wanted to discredit a political opponent by instrumentalizing the BfV and trying to give the impression to the outside world that the office acted objectively.”
