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Berlin (dpa) - The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the entire AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case.
This means that the party can now also be spied on using intelligence means.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the authority's president, Thomas Haldenwang, informed the state offices for the protection of the constitution about the new assessment in an internal video conference.
First, the «Spiegel» reported on the decision.
The AfD leadership spoke of a political maneuver with the aim of damaging the AfD in the super election year of 2021.
"The procedure of the protection of the constitution is scandalous," said the AfD chairman Tino Chrupalla.
"Although the authority is not allowed to announce the classification as a suspected case, it is launching appropriate information to the media in order to influence the democratic party competition to the detriment of the AfD."
The chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, Alexander Gauland, said: "I personally believe: no adjustment to the protection of the constitution."
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Due to ongoing legal proceedings, the Federal Office is currently not taking a public position on the question of the AfD's assessment.
"With a view to the ongoing proceedings and out of respect for the court, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is not making a public statement on this matter," the Cologne authority said on request.
This week, however, the Federal Office gave the Cologne administrative court extensive insight into its assessment of the AfD.
The AfD defends itself in an urgent procedure with legal means against a possible classification as a right-wing extremist suspected case.
In principle, this classification also enables informants to be recruited who report from the party to the domestic secret service.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution had promised the court that it would not use intelligence services to monitor candidates and MPs of the party until the end of the urgent proceedings.
In addition, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution will refrain from publicly announcing until the end of the proceedings whether it classifies the AfD as a suspected case or a right-wing extremist tendency.
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The court thereupon determined that, in view of the statements made by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, observation using intelligence means during the duration of the urgent proceedings could only affect the simple members of the party.
"It is not surprising that the protection of the Constitution is now apparently observing the AfD nationwide," said the domestic political spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Mathias Middelberg.
"The party has never clearly distanced itself from right-wing extremists like Mr. Höcke," criticized Middelberg with a view to the Thuringian AfD country chief Björn Höcke.
It is now up to the party to "evade surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution with a purification process."
But it is questionable whether she will succeed.
"This step was overdue - the solidarity
between the AfD and the extreme right has
become
more and
more visible in
recent years
," said DGB board member Anja Piel.
"Our democracy is defensive against those who want to abolish it and tear down the parliamentary system," commented Green parliamentary deputy Konstantin von Notz.
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A power struggle has been raging in the AfD for years between the right-wing nationalist currents and those who describe themselves as moderate.
In the federal executive committee, the so-called moderates around party leader Jörg Meuthen are currently in the majority.
The AfD had
shrunk
last year from 34,750 members to around
32,000 members at the end of the year.
For the party, this was the first decline in membership in five years.
A party spokesman said this in January, in part, saying that the membership of people who had not paid their dues had been terminated.
Some elected officials who had resigned had justified their resignation with what they saw as the growing influence of the far right in the party.
The Liberal-Conservative Reformer (LKR) party founded by the former AfD chairman Bernd Lucke had accepted some of them.
LKR federal chairman Jürgen Joost said: “Anyone who credibly turns away from the AfD must not be branded for it.
As liberal-conservative reformers, we are ready to build bridges for anyone who shares our statutory goals and political principles. "
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210303-99-666875 / 6