German intelligence brands AfD extremist organization

Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), announced on Friday that it has officially classified the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization at the national level.

The AfD had previously been designated a "suspicion case" federally, although several of its regional branches had already been classified as right-wing extremist entities.

The BfV said its conclusion followed a thorough expert review conducted over approximately three years.

According to German public broadcaster ARD, the BfV's assessment is detailed in a report exceeding 1,000 pages. The agency concluded that the AfD's prevailing "ethnic-based concept of the people" is incompatible with Germany's liberal democratic basic order.

In response to the decision, AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla condemned the move as a serious blow to democracy.

In a statement, they said the party would continue to challenge the classification through legal means, describing it as a "democracy-endangering defamation."

The AfD currently enjoys strong support in public opinion polls. It surpassed the conservative CDU/CSU bloc for the first time last month to become the strongest political party in a national survey.