After the AfD became the first alleged anti-immigrant party to enter the German parliament four years ago, the AfD now becomes the first party to be monitored in this way since the Nazi era ended in 1945.
This was driven in 2017 by voters who were angry with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome more than one million migrants into the Bundestag. But it has been erased by other parties, who say its rhetoric contributes to an atmosphere of hatred that encourages violence against immigrants.
The BfV’s move follows a two-year review of the AfD’s political platform, and will enable the agency to intercept calls and discussions involving AfD members and investigate party funding.
A spokesperson for the BfV declined to comment, citing a court case brought by the AfD, but the party was furious.
“The agenda is clear. First we become a ‘case to investigate’, now we are a ‘suspected case’ and are under surveillance – and at some point there will be a request to ban our party,” he said. said Alexander Gauland. the AfD’s parliamentary floor leader. “Thankfully, this will be a decision for the constitutional court and not the BfV.”
Gaino and co-leader Tino Chrupalla told a news conference that they had only learned from the media reports about the decision, which was first reported by Der Spiegel magazine. They accused the BfV of trying to harm their chances in September’s national election.
Court case
The Central Council of Jews in Germany welcomed the decision, saying: “The AfD’s destructive politics are undermining our democratic institutions and discrediting democracy among citizens.”
The AfD registered 12.6% support during the 2017 federal election to become the third largest party in the Bundestag, and also has legislators in all 16 regional assemblies.
But support has dropped to about 9% in recent surveys, concluded by infighting and its opposition to the closure measures to stem the coronavirus pandemic.
One of his co-leaders, Joerg Meuthen, started a rift by arguing that the AfD should expel members suspected of sympathy with far-right groups advocating violence to broaden the profession.
The AfD has also obtained a ruling in court that prevents the BfV from publicly calling it a ‘case under investigation’, as it harms it in elections. However, a visit to stop the BfV’s review is still in the courts.
The BfV told the Cologne Administrative Court last month that it would not monitor AfD lawmakers in the national, regional or European parliament while the case is being heard.
This suggests that formal supervision for now will be limited to lower-level party members.
Four years ago, the German government failed to ban the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD), which won a handful of seats in a number of local state assemblies. The constitutional court ruled that, although it looked like Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party, it was too weak to jeopardize democracy.