The youth wing of Germany’s populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has hit back after a court ruled that the country’s domestic intelligence service could spy on it as a “right-wing extremist” group.
The youth organisation, known as Junge Alternative (JA), said the “absurd” ruling was yet another undemocratic attempt by the country’s political elite to destroy the AfD, which is riding high in opinion polls.
The ruling by an administrative court in Cologne comes after the domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), last year classified the JA as a”gesichert rechtsextrem”—confirmed right-wing extremist—organisation. This allows for increased surveillance of the group and its members’ activities. The ruling was in effect a rejection of an injunction by the AfD and JA, which sought to remove the classification.
The court claimed JA propagates the exclusion of “ethnic foreigners” from society, “continues to engage in massive anti-foreigner, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim agitation,” and is acting against the “principles of democracy.” The court also accuses JA of equating modern Germany with dictatorial regimes, in particular the Nazi regime and the former Communist-ruled East Germany, something JA strongly denies.
Responding to the court’s verdict, Junge Alternative commented:
The political will to destroy the AfD and the associations and organisations close to it has long been obvious. The discussion of strategies to isolate and defame, and possibly launch a procedure to ban the largest opposition party in the country is now the main focus of the press, the pro-government activists, journalists, and political scientists.
Tomasz Froelich, Vice Chairman of the Junge Alternative clarified:
JA does not equate the Federal Republic with other dictatorships, but merely warns against totalitarian tendencies. It does not suspect migrants and asylum seekers across the board. And citizens with an immigrant background are not second-class citizens as far as JA is concerned.
The left-wing Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, unsurprisingly, welcomed the ruling:
Today’s decision clearly states that we are dealing with massive contempt for humanity, racism, hatred against Muslims, and attacks on our democracy. We will continue to take action against this with the means of the rule of law.
However, critics say that the country’s institutions are being weaponised to persecute a political opponent supported by many millions of German voters who are disillusioned with the ruling elite.
The AfD is currently the second most popular party in Germany with around 20% support. It will likely become the largest force in three Eastern states—Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia—which are holding state elections this autumn. The rise of the party has been attributed to a growing anger with the left-liberal government’s handling of the migration and cost-of-living crises.
The targeting of young party members comes as establishment parties do everything possible to stop the AfD, with many high-ranking politicians calling for an outright ban of the party. A recent left-wing report on the AfD turned out to be full of inconsistencies and false accusations.
As Joachim Kuhs, Member of the European Parliament for the AfD, told The European Conservative in a recent interview:
The [establishment] parties are in a kind of panic mode, and they just can’t cope with the success we currently have as the AfD, and they’re lashing out wildly.
This panic mode is reflected in the fact that the aforementioned Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) recently placed its former chief, Hans-Georg Maaßen, under observation over, among other things, his alleged proximity to individuals in the ‘right-wing extremist’ scene. Maaßen, who recently announced his intention to break away from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to establish a new political party, accused Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of misusing the BfV to combat political opponents.