A Cologne court ruled Thursday that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency cannot classify the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization while the party’s legal appeal is underway, ordering the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) to wait for the outcome of full court proceedings before making such a designation public.
The Cologne Administrative Court backed the AfD's urgent application, arguing that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) must await the results of full court proceedings before publicizing its decision.
The AfD, Germany's largest far-right party, has faced severe criticism over its anti-immigrant views, leading some prominent politicians to call for it to be banned.
It has also attracted the attention of intelligence services, who have investigated whether the party's ethno-nationalist views are a threat to the country's free, constitutional order.
Last year, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution upgraded its categorization of the AfD, from a "suspected" to a "confirmed" case of right-wing extremism. The label authorizes further surveillance measures against the party.
In Thursday's ruling, however, the court said that while there is sufficient certainty that efforts are being made within the AfD to undermine the democratic order, this does not mean the entire party is "characterized in such a way that its overall image can be described as anti-constitutional."
Party co-leader Alice Weidel called the decision "a great victory not only for the AfD, but also for democracy and the rule of law!"
In practice, the decision is likely to have minimal impact, as the intelligence agency had already suspended the use of the upgraded "confirmed" categorization for the AfD, pending the results of the party's legal appeal.
The Cologne court's decision can be appealed to the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court in Münster.
