Far-right AfD Poses a Threat to German Democracy
Berlin, March 3 (AFP/APP): Germany’s domestic security agency has placed the far-right AfD under surveillance for posing a threat to democracy, parliamentary sources said Wednesday, dealing a blow to the anti-immigration party in a big election year.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has classified the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a “suspected case” of ties to right-wing extremism, the sources told AFP.
The decision, made late last week according to a report in Der Spiegel weekly, will allow intelligence agents to shadow the party, tap its communications and possibly use undercover informants.
It follows a two-year investigation and a report containing over 1,000 pages of evidence, including several hundred speeches and statements by AfD members at all party levels, Der Spiegel said.
However, lawmakers as well as candidates standing in September’s general election will be excluded from the monitoring, said the parliamentary sources, noting that such surveillance would have required even more stringent justifications.
The BfV said it was unable to comment on the case in view of pre-emptive urgent proceedings filed by the AfD against the agency’s bid to class it a “suspect case”.
Alice Weidel, head of the AfD parliamentary group, said the party would take legal action against the decision and accused the BfV of playing politics. “This is particularly remarkable in view of the upcoming state and federal elections this year,” Weidel told the DPA news agency.
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