Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the co-chairs of the AfD.Image: keystone
Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is not allowed to classify and treat the right-wing populist AfD party as definitely right-wing extremist for the time being.
Feb 26, 2026, 3:04 p.mFebruary 26, 2026, 3:16 p.m
The Cologne Administrative Court has decided that the authority must wait for the outcome of the main proceedings. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution must also refrain from publicly announcing such a classification for the time being. The AfD’s urgent application was essentially approved.
The decision can be appealed at the next higher instance before the Higher Administrative Court for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster.
In the court’s opinion, there is sufficient certainty that efforts directed against the free democratic basic order are being developed within the AfD. However, this “does not shape it in a way that leads to an anti-constitutional underlying tendency being identified in its overall picture”.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had classified the AfD as right-wing extremist
Last year, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD (Alternative for Germany) as definitely right-wing extremist after several years of review. The domestic secret service announced at the time that the suspicion that the party was pursuing efforts against the free, democratic basic order had been confirmed and had largely become a certainty.
A few months earlier, the party had doubled its share of the vote to 20.8 percent in the February federal election compared to the previous election. This makes it the second strongest parliamentary group in the Bundestag in Berlin.
The AfD filed a lawsuit and an urgent application with the Cologne Administrative Court because the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is based in the western German city. In doing so, she wanted to have the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution prohibited from listing, classifying and treating her as right-wing extremist.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution then initially issued a so-called standstill promise. This meant that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution no longer publicly described the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort until a court decision was made.
In addition to the expedited procedure, there is a procedure on the main issue. The legal dispute over the question of whether the AfD can be classified as right-wing extremist can drag on for a long time. (hkl/sda/dpa)