The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has pledged not to label the right-wing populist and pro-Kremlin party 'Alternative for Germany', which has now become the most popular in the country, as extremist, reports the publication Spiegel.
Counterintelligence presented its assurances to the administrative court in Cologne, where AfD is contesting the recognition of the association as extremist. This procedure also imposes a ban on operational surveillance of party members.
The obligation not to publicly disclose the party's status will remain in effect until the end of the proceedings, thus guaranteeing the principle of non-interference in the process, the publication writes.
At the same time, intelligence can still establish surveillance of party members, but only if law enforcement suspects them of committing crimes.
As noted by Spiegel, this is not the first time the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has made such a promise. In 2021, it also did so after AfD filed a lawsuit against being classified as a 'suspicious case'.
AfD was recognized as an extremist association at the beginning of May. Several branches of the party, including its youth wing, have already been classified as extremist. The party itself has been considered suspected of extremism since 2021. Intelligence justified the decision by stating that the party 'disregards human dignity' and promotes a definition of the people 'based on ethnic origin, incompatible with the basic free democratic order'.
The new status does not ban the party and does not prevent its members from being elected. In early April, the party's rating reached 24% and equaled the rating of the ruling CDU/CSU alliance.