Landmark Ruling in Germany: Court Blocks Designation of AfD as Extremist Organization

The Administrative Court in Cologne issued a ruling that temporarily blocks the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution from classifying the party Alternative for Germany as an organization with a confirmed far-right character. This decision was made as an interim measure and is valid until the main legal dispute is resolved. The judges found that the evidence gathered by counterintelligence, while indicating the existence of anti-constitutional aspirations within the party, is insufficient to attribute them to the entire, complex structure of the party. This ruling prevents the authorities from automatically expanding surveillance to include the most invasive methods, reserved for groups openly seeking to overthrow the democratic order. According to the German Basic Law of 1949, the freedom of political parties is subject to special protection, and their banning or drastic restriction of rights is only possible after the Federal Constitutional Court proves that a given party actively combats the liberal democratic order.The verdict triggered an immediate wave of commentary in Berlin. AfD leader Alice Weidel called the court's decision a "great victory for the rule of law" and proof that the government's actions against her party are purely politically motivated. Meanwhile, politicians from the ruling parties and the Christian Democrats are trying to calm the situation. Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU emphasized that the ruling concerns only the formal classification issue and not a substantive clearing of the party from allegations of radicalism. The current ruling does not change AfD's existing status as a "suspected case," which still allows security agencies to conduct operational surveillance, while blocking the transition to more invasive surveillance methods. „Zuerst einmal ist das ein großer Tag für die Demokratie und ein großer Tag für den Rechtsstaat in Deutschland.” (First of all, this is a great day for democracy and a great day for the rule of law in Germany.) — Alice WeidelThe situation remains particularly tense in eastern states such as Thuringia, where local AfD branches have long been classified as far-right by regional intelligence services. Georg Maier, the Minister of the Interior of Thuringia, has long emphasized that he considers the party constitutionally suspect and, in light of suspicions of cooperation with foreign intelligence, called for considering a ban on the activities of individual state branches. At the same time, the Administrative Court in Saarland upheld the dismissal of a former Junge Alternative official from legal training, showing that the state still applies restrictions to individuals linked to radical structures.