Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has officially labeled the AfD as “definitively right-wing extremist”. The party has been under the observation of the agency since 2019, and some state branches have already been deemed to be extremist and antithetical to the constitutional order.
> When classified as a suspected case, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution may also use so-called intelligence service means for observation, such as recruiting human sources or conducting financial investigations. Measures to monitor communications are also permitted, but only with the prior approval of the G10 Commission of the German Bundestag. A final decision by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig on the question of whether the classification as a suspected case is lawful is still pending. However, this is no longer about the substantive justification, but solely about possible procedural errors in the classification. In its ruling, the Münster Higher Administrative Court had also called on the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to come to an assessment soon as to whether the suspicion of extremism had been confirmed or not.
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> The reassessment by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is likely to reignite the debate about banning the AfD. However, this does not happen automatically: the assessment as “proven right-wing extremist” is neither a prerequisite for this, nor is a ban procedure the inevitable consequence. It is instead a political decision: only the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Federal Government can initiate a ban procedure by applying to the Federal Constitutional Court, which then has to decide on it. An initiative for a ban application from the middle of the Bundestag, initiated by the then CDU member of the Bundestag Marco Wanderwitz, failed in January because there were not enough supporters.
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Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, has officially labeled the AfD as “definitively right-wing extremist”. The party has been under the observation of the agency since 2019, and some state branches have already been deemed to be extremist and antithetical to the constitutional order.
Here are some DeepL-translated excerpts from this [Tagesschau article](https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/verfassungsschutz-afd-102.html) on what this means going forward:
> When classified as a suspected case, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution may also use so-called intelligence service means for observation, such as recruiting human sources or conducting financial investigations. Measures to monitor communications are also permitted, but only with the prior approval of the G10 Commission of the German Bundestag. A final decision by the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig on the question of whether the classification as a suspected case is lawful is still pending. However, this is no longer about the substantive justification, but solely about possible procedural errors in the classification. In its ruling, the Münster Higher Administrative Court had also called on the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to come to an assessment soon as to whether the suspicion of extremism had been confirmed or not.
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> The reassessment by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is likely to reignite the debate about banning the AfD. However, this does not happen automatically: the assessment as “proven right-wing extremist” is neither a prerequisite for this, nor is a ban procedure the inevitable consequence. It is instead a political decision: only the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Federal Government can initiate a ban procedure by applying to the Federal Constitutional Court, which then has to decide on it. An initiative for a ban application from the middle of the Bundestag, initiated by the then CDU member of the Bundestag Marco Wanderwitz, failed in January because there were not enough supporters.
!ping GER
How likely is the AFD to be banned now?