Court Rules German Intelligence Agency Can Label AfD Saxony as ‘Right-Wing Extremist’

Joerg Urban (C), candidate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, arrives at Saxony's state parliament in Dresden, Germany, on Dec. 18, 2024. Jens Schlueter / AFP via Getty Images

A German court has ruled that AfD Saxony can be designated as a right extremist group by authorities, opening the door to more surveillance.

On Jan. 21, the Saxon Higher Administrative Court ruled that The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is permitted to classify the Saxony state chapter of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as “confirmed right-wing extremist.”

The BfV’s main tasks are to monitor and analyze anti-constitutional activities by right- and left-wing extremists and extremist foreigners in Germany and to prevent espionage activities by other countries.

Authorities classed the AfD Saxony as extremist for the first time in 2023. The AfD then challenged the classification last year, and warned that the BfV would be allowed to monitor it.

German public service television broadcaster ZDF Heute said the court’s decision to reject the appeal is now final, meaning that no further legal recourse is possible from AfD.

The Saxony court said that the state party pursues a “policy of so-called ethnopluralism with regard to immigration,” which it called “a hallmark of political right-wing extremism.”

“According to this concept, acquiring German citizenship would depend exclusively on ethnic-biological or cultural criteria. Such an understanding of ”the people“ is incompatible with the Basic Law (German Constitution),” the court stated.

Dirk-Martin Christian, president of the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony, said in a statement that “ethnopluralism would inevitably lead to the degradation, exclusion, and disadvantage of foreign peoples—namely, migrants and ethnic minorities,” and claimed that they would be “regarded as second-class humans and universally demeaned.”

“This kind of racially driven interpretation of ”the people,“ as publicly represented by the AfD Saxony, has its roots in historical National Socialism,” Christian said.

National and Regional AfD

The national AfD, which has been endorsed by social media platform X owner Elon Musk, is currently second in the polls ahead of a general election on Feb. 23.

On Sept. 1, 2024, the party emerged as the dominant political force in recent state elections in eastern Germany, securing nearly 33 percent of the vote in Thuringia and almost 31 percent in Saxony.

According to a poll by PolitPro, AfD is also polling first at 36 percent for 2029 Saxony state elections.

In both Saxony and Thuringia, the regional branches of the AfD are considered even more right-wing than the main party.

Young Alternative Thuringia was classified as a “right-wing extremist” in March 2024.

In an interview with The American Conservative on Jan. 6, AfD leader Alice Weidel denied that the party is extremist.

“To be clear: Neither I nor my party are right-wing extremists. You must know that in Germany this accusation is a battle cry of the left, which dominates the public discourse,” she said.

“The left doesn’t even think it’s necessary to provide evidence for this accusation. No matter what, in their eyes anything that doesn’t want to be like them is ‘right-wing extremist.’”

Members With Extremist Ties

In November 2024, AfD party leaders said they had expelled members involved in an extremist group.

In a statement, AfD referred to “members affected by the measures taken by the attorney general,” confirming a connection between the party and eight suspects arrested during a major police operation.

On Nov. 5, 2024, German police said officers had arrested members of a neo-national socialist militant group that had been training in warfare for the downfall of the modern German state.

The operation targeted the Saxonian Separatists [“Saechsische Separatisten”], a monarchist, autonomist, and secessionist movement that seeks to restore the former Kingdom of Saxony.

According to German media, one of the suspects was Kurt Haettasch, an AfD politician in the eastern state of Saxony, where the party came close to winning a state election in September 2024.

Describing it as an “urgent and serious case,” the AfD said it would also suspend the suspects’ membership rights with immediate effect until the arbitration court reaches a decision.

Policies

A closer look at the party’s policies reveals a complex picture.

The AfD platform is against mass immigration and for restrictions on asylum, opposes the Ukraine war, expresses skepticism about climate change policies, and is critical of EU integration.

The party’s politicians were labeled “far-right” for appearing at anti-lockdown rallies during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the country implemented strict COVID-19 measures, including a nationwide lockdown for the unvaccinated at one point.

AfD leaders have called for strict border controls and a reduction in asylum seekers. The party has also pushed for preserving what it sees as traditional German culture and says that “Islam does not belong to Germany.”

It its 2025 Manifesto, AfD said that “from now on we will determine again who comes to us and who does not.” It added that there “will be no more cash benefits for asylum seekers.”

Part of the AfD’s rise can be attributed to Germany’s handling of the 2015 migrant crisis, when then-Chancellor Angela Merkel allowed more than 1 million asylum seekers to enter the country, which sparked backlash among many citizens.

The Epoch Times contacted AFD Saxony for comment but did not receive a reply by publication time.