The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) filed a lawsuit on Monday against its classification by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as an extremist organization.

The legal action was filed in the Cologne Administrative Court and claimed that the classification by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) infringes upon democratic competition and the AfD’s rights under Article 21 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. AfD spokespersons Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel argue that the agency’s attempt to criminalize statements of opinion and criticism is an abuse of power that violates the principles of German democracy.

The BfV labelled the AfD as an extremist organization on May 2. Its investigations looked at the AfD’s actions in light of human dignity, the principle of democracy, and the rule of law. According to the BfV, the AfD’s understanding of ethnicity and descent is incompatible with the rule of law because it violates the human dignity of certain groups within the German population. Prominent party officials have also continuously propagated xenophobic, Islamophobic and anti-minority ideology. Additionally, the agency assessed the party members’ statements and behavior as well as their connections to right-wing extremist actors and groups. For example, the AfD politician Björn Höcke was fined by a regional court in Halle for public use of a Nazi slogan contrary to §86a of the German Criminal Code.

Previously, the Cologne Administrative Court and the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia ruled that the intelligence agency’s suspicions of the AfD and its youth organization’s engagement in right-wing extremism were justified. Thomas Haldenwang, the BfV’s director general, stated that the agency provided weighty evidence proving that the AfD’s activities were against the free democratic basic order:

The verdict makes it clear: In our vigilant democracy, the domestic intelligence services in charge of protecting the constitution have the important role of an early warning system with regard to the development of activities directed against the free democratic basic order. We will continue to perform and fulfil this task.

Following the courts’ rulings, members of the German federal parliament (Bundestag) requested the Federal Constitutional Court to declare the AfD unconstitutional. Despite facing criticism, the AfD became the second strongest political party in Germany after the federal election on February 23, 2025. In response to the intelligence agency’s classification, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned against a rushed ban of the AfD.