Germany’s second-largest party files suit over extremist label

The case was submitted to an administrative court in Cologne, where Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service is headquartered

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has filed a lawsuit against the country’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution over its recent decision to designate the far-right party as extremist, AfD spokesman Daniel Tapp told DPA news agency.

The case was submitted to an administrative court in Cologne, where Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) is headquartered.

Lawyers for the AfD demanded that the German regulator reverse its decision by 8:00 a.m. local time (6:00 a.m. GMT) on Monday, warning that they would file a petition otherwise.

As the MAD did not respond, the AfD proceeded with the lawsuit. Lawyers for the party argue that the regulator’s decision is unjustified.

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution labeled the Alternative for Germany as an extremist organization on Friday, saying its ideology is inconsistent with democratic freedoms.

The move allows the authorities to surveil party members, using such measures as phone tapping, but doesn’t outlaw the organization, leaving that decision up to the Federal Constitutional Court.

If the court bans AfD, it will be the third party to be banned in Germany after the Socialist Reich Party, which united former Nazis and was banned in 1952, and the Communist Party of Germany that was banned in 1956.