According to a ruling by the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution rightly classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case. The court in Münster confirmed a ruling from the lower court.
This means that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can continue to use intelligence resources to monitor the party. The verdict is not yet legally binding. The OVG did not allow an appeal. However, the AfD can submit an application for approval to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig (case numbers: 5 A 1216/22, 5 A 1217/22 and 5 A 1218/22).
In the appeal process, the AfD objected to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution listing the entire party, the now disbanded AfD “wing” and the youth organization Junge Alternative as suspected extremist cases. The wing is also concerned with the classification as a confirmed extremist effort. In the first instance, the Cologne Administrative Court ruled in favor of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: the judges saw sufficient evidence of anti-constitutional efforts within the AfD.
The OVG shares this opinion according to the judgment announced today, Monday. The lawsuits were directed against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Because the Federal Office is based in Cologne, the courts in North Rhine-Westphalia are responsible.
