Germany AfD wins summary proceedings for classification as right-wing extremist
For the time being, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution may not classify and treat the right-wing populist party AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist.
26.02.2026, 15:27
SDA
The Cologne Administrative Court has ruled that the authority must await 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 appeal was essentially granted.
The decision can be appealed in the next higher instance before the Higher Administrative Court for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster.
In the opinion of the court, there is sufficient certainty that the AfD is engaged in activities directed against the free democratic basic order. However, this "does not characterize it in such a way that an anti-constitutional basic tendency can be identified in its overall image".
Office for the Protection of the Constitution had classified AfD as right-wing extremist
Last year, after several years of investigation, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD (Alternative for Germany) as definitely right-wing extremist. The suspicion that the party was pursuing efforts against the free democratic basic order had been confirmed and had essentially become a certainty, the domestic intelligence service announced at the time.
A few months earlier, the party had doubled its share of the vote to 20.8 percent in the Bundestag elections in February compared to the previous election. It is now the second largest parliamentary group in the Bundestag in Berlin.
The AfD filed a lawsuit and an urgent appeal 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, it wanted to have the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution prohibited by the court from listing, classifying and treating it as right-wing extremist.
In response, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution initially issued a so-called standstill agreement. This meant that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution would no longer publicly describe the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization until a court decision was made.
In addition to the summary proceedings, there are also proceedings on the merits. The legal dispute over the question of whether the AfD can be classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization could therefore drag on for a long time.
