The Central Council of Jews in Germany welcomed the decision, saying: “The AfD’s destructive politics undermine our democratic institutions and discredit democracy among citizens.” They accused the BfV of trying to hurt their chances in September’s national election. Gauland and AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla told a news conference that they had only learnt about the decision, first reported by the magazine Der Spiegel, from media reports. “That, thank God, will be a decision for the Constitutional Court and not the BfV.”

First we are made 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,” said Alexander Gauland, the AfD’s parliamentary floor leader.

The BfV’s move follows a two-year review of the AfD’s political platform, and will allow the agency to eavesdrop on calls and conversations involving AfD members and scrutinize party funding.Ī spokeswoman for the BfV declined to comment, citing a court case brought by the AfD, but the party was furious. But it has been ostracized by other parties, which say its rhetoric contributes to an atmosphere of hatred that encourages violence against immigrants. It was propelled into the Bundestag in 2017 by voters angry with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome more than one million migrants. Germany’s BfV domestic intelligence service has formally placed the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance on suspicion of trying to undermine Germany’s democratic constitution, a person briefed on the move said on Wednesday.Īfter four years ago becoming the first avowedly anti-immigrant party to enter the German parliament, the AfD now becomes the first party to be monitored in this way since the Nazi era ended in 1945.

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