Germany's far-right AfD plans to fight designation as 'extremist'

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party outlined its plans to take legal action in response to Germany's domestic intelligence agency BfV officially classifying the party as right-wing extremist.

On Friday, BfV officials reignited a political debate about a ban of the AfD after releasing a lengthy report confirming the extremist nature of the party, which came second in Germany's most recent election in February.

Intelligence officials said that there was now concrete evidence that the anti-immigrant party pursued efforts that threaten Germany's democratic order and that its understanding of the German nation as based on ethnicity and descent was incompatible with Germany's free democratic order.

The party said on Sunday that if the domestic intelligence agency does not comply with a cease-and-desist letter sent on Friday, the AfD's federal executive committee will approve a lawsuit already prepared against the agency and file it in court on Monday.

The AfD's letter, which has a deadline of 8 am (0600 GMT) Monday states that both the classification as a "confirmed right-wing extremist organization" and the announcement of this fact are considered to be clearly illegal. The BfV confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment further.

The Administrative Court in Cologne, where the BfV is based, is responsible for lawsuits against the intelligence agency, also known as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

In May the Higher Administrative Court in Münster ruled in an appeal that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had rightly classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist organisation.