Today, the Administrative Court in Cologne has given its decision on the claims (see below) brought against the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) by the party ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ (AfD) and its youth organisation ‘Junge Alternative für Deutschland’ (JA):

1. The claim filed by AfD to stop BfV from classifying it as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ (subject of extended investigation to verify a suspicion) and investigating it based on that definition as well as from publicising a classification to that effect or the fact that it is being investigated (13 K 326/21) was dismissed.
The court found in its oral statement of the reasons for the judgement that there were sufficient indications of anti-constitutional endeavours within the party. This had been documented by BfV, according to the court, in pertinent reports and the related collections of material by “contextualising the statements considered relevant”. As stated by the court, BfV’s assessment was based on an overall view that was not objected to. The party was in the middle of an internal dispute about its future course, in which the anti-constitutional forces might prevail in the end. BfV will also be allowed to publicise AfD’s classification as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ in order to make a political discussion possible.

2. The claim filed by AfD and JA to stop BfV from classifying JA as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ (subject of extended investigation to verify a suspicion) and investigating it based on that definition as well as from publicising a classification to that effect or the fact that it is being investigated (13 K 208/20) was dismissed.
According to the court’s ruling, the classification of the ‘Junge Alternative für Deutschland’ (JA) as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ is lawful. There were sufficient indications of anti-constitutional endeavours within JA, the court said in its statement.

3. The claim filed by AfD to stop BfV from classifying the AfD faction known as ‘Der Flügel’ as a ‘Verdachtsfall’ (subject of extended investigation to verify a suspicion) and/or a ‘gesichert extremistische Bestrebung’ (extremist endeavour as corroborated by hard evidence) and investigating it based on that definition as well as from publicising a classification to that effect or the fact that it is being investigated (13 K 207/20) was admitted in part.
The court has ruled that BfV was allowed to classify the AfD faction referred to as ‘Der Flügel’ as a ‘Verdachtsfall’. Its classification as a ‘gesichert extremistische Bestrebung’ is today, after its formal dissolution, not permissible, as found by the court.

4. The court has found in favour of the claim filed by AfD to stop BfV from asserting that the AfD faction known as ‘Der Flügel’ had about 7,000 members up to its dissolution and that the number of its members is still 7,000 (13 K 325/21).

Thomas Haldenwang, BfV’s President, comments on the court’s decisions as follows:
“I appreciate it that BfV’s assessment of AfD was confirmed by the Cologne Administrative Court. This is a good day for our democracy. As soon as we have received the written statement of the reasons for the judgement and analysed it, BfV will issue further statements.“

V. i. S. d. P.
Angela Pley, spokesperson
Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz
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