Overview
- The Cologne administrative court granted an injunction that prevents the domestic intelligence agency from referring to or treating AfD as a proven right‑wing extremist group until it issues a definitive judgment.
- Judges said preliminary evidence shows efforts inside AfD that run against Germany’s free democratic order, but not a party‑wide anticonstitutional tendency.
- The BfV’s May 2025 designation had enabled stepped‑up surveillance of AfD, which the agency had already suspended while the lawsuit proceeded.
- The court’s decision is temporary and can be appealed, and it is unclear when a final ruling will be delivered.
- AfD, now the largest opposition force in parliament, cast the ruling as a political win ahead of several state elections, with co‑leader Alice Weidel praising the decision.