Democracy Dies in Darkness

Far-right German party threat to democracy so can be spied on, says court

Germany’s far right AfD has been classified as a “suspected extremist” since 2021 but it is also one of the second most popular parties in the country.

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Updated May 13, 2024 at 7:16 a.m. EDT|Published May 13, 2024 at 5:24 a.m. EDT
Far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party members Roman Reusch and Peter Boehringer address the media after the verdict of the Higher Administrative Court of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia on Monday. (Leon Kuegeler/Reuters)
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BERLIN — The far-right Alternative for Germany party, one of the most popular in the country, is enough of a threat to democracy that intelligence officials can conduct wiretapping of party members and employ informants, a court ruled Monday.

The court once again rejected the AfD’s bid to overturn its designation as a “suspected extremist case,” a label applied by Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the BfV, in 2021.