German domestic intelligence has decided to place the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party under police surveillance, believing that it had increased attacks on democratic order, several media said on Wednesday (March 3rd).
Read also: In Germany, the AfD rehashes its divisions
Thomas Haldenwang, president of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, informed the regional branches of internal intelligence of the classification of the formation among the "
suspected cases
", assure the news agency DPA and
Der Spiegel
.
The decision, taken at the end of last week, is very sensitive to seven months of the legislative elections.
The AfD, created in 2013, came into force in 2017 in the National Chamber of Deputies, and embodies the first force in opposition to the conservatives of Angela Merkel and the social democrats in power.
The party, which has built its success on its positions against the Chancellor's migration policy, is currently torn by internal quarrels and losing momentum in the polls.
The office has not made its decision public due to ongoing legal proceedings, add the German media, the AfD having lodged a complaint upstream.
It has also for this reason given up at this stage to monitoring party deputies or candidates for regional or legislative elections scheduled for this year, according to the same sources.
The office is based on a 1,000-page intelligence report cataloging "
alleged party violations against the free and democratic basic order
."
Investigators gathered several hundred speeches or statements from party officials at all levels.
A key element would be the influence of the most radical fringe of the AfD, called “
The Wing
” and close to the neo-Nazis.
Also placed under surveillance last year, this movement has officially dissolved but its representatives are still in the party.
The report also points to the AfD's links with certain radical organizations such as the identity movement or the New Right editor and ideologue Götz Kubitschek.
The less radical leaders of the party have tried in recent months to organize the counterattack by displaying a more civilized image.
At a congress in November, Co-President Jörg Meuthen, considered a moderate, notably sharply criticized the proximity displayed by party members to opponents of restrictions against the virus and the increasingly radical language used for criticize the government.
To read also: Germany: "The maneuvers of the AfD open a political crisis which puts in difficulty Angela Merkel"
He was referring to the honorary president of the AfD Alexander Gauland who had accused the executive of using “
war propaganda
” to impose “
his corona dictatorship
”.
