The French Development Agency fails to stop monitoring the party

The ruling came after the Alternative for Germany party appealed a ruling issued two years ago by the Administrative Court in Cologne. The party's protests against its classification as a “suspected far-right extremist” were not heard in the Supreme Court in Münster.

According to the court, the French Development Agency shows signs of “anti-democratic aspirations” and acts against “the human value of certain groups.”

In Germany sheep Parties and organizations suspected of threatening democracy in the country are subject to surveillance by the security apparatus. Party members can be recruited as informants, and in exceptional cases politicians' telephone conversations can be eavesdropped. The ruling in Münster means that the security service may continue to monitor the AfD.

It is unclear whether this announcement will affect the results of the EU elections – and if so, how. In the state of Thuringia, the AfD was classified as a “far-right extremist” three years ago. Since then, support for the party has risen from about 20 to about 30 percent in opinion polls.

In January it shook AFD revealed that party members attended a meeting in which members discussed how they could force people with a foreign background out of Germany. Party representatives denied that it was behind the “return migration” plans that were formulated at the meeting.

But reporting on the meeting sparked protests involving hundreds of thousands of participants across the country. Some demonstrators called for the party to be banned.

Banning political parties is possible, but rare, in Germany. Since 1949, this has happened only twice. In 1952, the National Socialist Party was banned after being classified as Nazi. In 1957, the West German Communist Party (KPD), which called for revolution and the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” was banned.

The French Development Agency is expected to appeal the Münster ruling to Germany's highest administrative court.

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The AfD is suspected of threatening democracy – and now voices are rising to ban the party