GERMANY’S AFD WENT on the offensive today against its designation as a “right-wing extremist” party by Germany’s intelligence agency, as the move further inflamed ties with US President Donald Trump’s administration.

An Alternative for Germany (AfD) spokesman said the party had lodged a court challenge against the BfV agency’s designation, the day before designated conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to take office.

The BfV said on Friday it considered the AfD a “confirmed” right-wing extremist group, citing the “xenophobic, anti-minority, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim statements made by leading party officials”.

The classification will help authorities seek greater powers to monitor the party with phone taps and undercover agents, and has fuelled fresh calls for an outright ban on the AfD.

The party’s co-leader Alice Weidel inveighed against the label today, saying it was tantamount to “criminalising freedom of expression”.

Members of Trump’s administration were quick to leap to the AfD’s defence.

US Vice President JD Vance described the AfD — which, like Trump, has campaigned against immigration — as “the most popular party in Germany”.

The AfD came second in Germany’s federal election in February with just under 21 percent, behind Merz’s conservative CDU-CSU alliance which won over 28 percent.

It has since been neck-and-neck with the CDU/CSU in opinion polls, even taking the lead in some voter surveys.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the intelligence agency’s move “tyranny in disguise” and said “Germany should reverse course”.

The German foreign ministry took the unusual step of replying directly to Rubio on X to say: “This is democracy.”

It stressed the BfV’s move was “the result of a thorough and independent investigation to protect our constitution”.

A ministry spokesman reiterated on Monday that Germany “strongly rejects” Rubio’s comments and that his “insinuations are certainly unfounded”.

‘Find new jobs’

The BfV based its decision on a report of more than 1,000 pages prepared over years which has been provided to the interior ministry.

The timing of its decision, in the final days of the outgoing centre-left government, sparked claims from the AfD that the move was designed to stymie their growing electoral success.

In a statement issued on Sunday ahead of announcing its appeal, the AfD called the BfV’s decision “illegal” and said that the agency had “no evidence” for claims that the party was a threat to Germany’s constitution.

It also rejected the accusations that it was xenophobic and Islamophobic.

The BfV’s designation has renewed calls from some politicians — including within Merz’s CDU/CSU — for the AfD to be banned, although the threshold for such an action would be high.

Merz told reporters today that his incoming government, and in particular the designated interior minister Alexander Dobrindt, would have to “carefully evaluate” the BfV’s report before taking any further action.

However, he did say it was now “inconceivable” that the AfD should be allowed to chair parliamentary committees.

The AfD has frequently triggered uproar in Germany.

One of its most prominent faces, the party’s leader in eastern Thuringia state, Bjoern Hoecke, has twice been convicted for using a banned Nazi slogan, and others have been criticised for downplaying Nazi atrocities.

Hoecke caused outrage over the weekend with a reported tweet, which was later deleted, in which he urged BfV employees to “find new jobs”.

“History shows: People have to face the consequences of their actions,” he said, in what was seen as a threat against the agency.

© Agence France-Presse