The number of Alternative for Germany (AfD) members identified as potential far-right extremists has surged by 40 per cent, according to a report released on Tuesday by Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the BfV, and the interior ministry.
The findings indicate that the populist party, which boasts approximately 70,000 members, now has 28,000 individuals considered to pose a risk of right-wing extremism.
This marks a significant increase from 20,000 members identified the previous year. The report highlighted that the AfD continues to show no signs of moderating its positions, which remain under close scrutiny by intelligence services.
No signs of distancing
The AfD has pulled ahead of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives in national opinion polls and is far ahead of any other party in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where it could win power for the first time in a September election.
The AfD rejects the accusations that its views are extremist and has said the intelligence service’s assessments are politically motivated. The BfV, which monitors extremist threats primarily through analysis of public statements and activities, defines extremism as efforts directed against Germany’s free democratic constitutional order.
Tuesday’s report found no indications that the party had over the past year distanced itself from the positions that concern the BfV’s authorities. Those positions include the party’s espousal of an ethnic ancestry-based conception of the German people that courts have determined is incompatible with the constitution, it said.
The report cited comments by Bjoern Hoecke, the party’s leader in the eastern state of Thuringia, who referred to a U.N. resettlement programme as “population replacement.” Such comments are part of a process of “ideological homogenisation”, with liberal-conservative positions in the party scarcely expressed in public, it said.
Right-wing extremism remains the greatest threat to democracy in Germany, the report said. The authors highlighted an increasing number of younger people being attracted to right-wing extremism, especially online, as well as better networking and an increased shift towards violence among extremists as particularly alarming.
“From within, we face pressure from extremism of all stripes in the digital space just as much as on the streets,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. Outside threats include sabotage and espionage, particularly from Russia, said BfV Vice President Sinan Selen.