AfD sues German intelligence over ‘unlawful' extremist label: ‘tyranny in disguise'
The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party on Monday sued the domestic intelligence service for classifying it as a right-wing extremist organisation, in a move that subjects it to greater surveillance from authorities.
Advertisement
The party, known as AfD, which placed second in national elections in February, took legal action at an administrative court in the western city of Cologne where the domestic intelligence service has its headquarters, Daniel Tapp, a spokesman for party leader Alice Weidel, said.
A court spokesperson confirmed that the party filed a suit and an urgent motion, according to the DPA news agency. AfD has rejected the classification and called it unlawful.
The move by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution – the formal name of the domestic intelligence service – means its officials can now use informants and other tools such as audio and video recordings to monitor the party's activities nationwide.
The office warned of a threat to the country's democratic order, saying the anti-immigration party 'disregards human dignity,' in particular by what it called 'ongoing agitation' against refugees and migrants.
Advertisement
Far-right parties have been gaining ground across Europe and the AfD attracts international attention, including support from tech billionaire
Elon Musk , who is a close ally of US President
Donald Trump
Some top Trump administration officials have criticised the decision, prompting a retort from the German Foreign Ministry.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
5 days ago
- RTHK
Iran warns of retaliation as Israeli attacks continue
Iran warns of retaliation as Israeli attacks continue Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran would not halt its nuclear programme "under any circumstances". File photo: AFP Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Saturday of a "more devastating" retaliation should Israel's nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear programme "under any circumstances". Israel said on Saturday it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented offensive, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed Tehran's alleged progress towards a nuclear weapon had been set back by two years. "We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat," Saar told the German newspaper Bild, adding that Israel would keep up its onslaught. Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. On Saturday, Israel said it had attacked Iran's Isfahan nuclear site for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit. Later Saturday Iran's Mehr news agency said Israel had launched strikes on the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases. And early Sunday, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that a "vast" wave of "suicide drones" had been launched against "strategic targets" across Israel. Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on Saturday Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme "cannot be taken away... by threats or war". (AFP)
RTHK
16-06-2025
- RTHK
G7 leaders urge Trump to ease off trade war
G7 leaders urge Trump to ease off trade war US President Donald Trump holds a signed trade agreement with Britain during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the G7 summit. Photo: Reuters World leaders at the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday tried to push US President Donald Trump to back away from his punishing trade war that poses a risk to global economic stability. At a summit where host Canada hopes to avoid stoking Trump's anger, and with attention on events in the Middle East, leaders still urged the US leader to reverse course on his plans to slap even steeper tariffs on countries across the globe as early as next month. "Several participants asked to end the tariff dispute as soon as possible. They argued that this dispute weakens the G7's economies and in the end will only strengthen China," a senior German official told reporters on condition of anonymity. The six other countries urged Trump to end his trade conflict as soon as possible, telling him that his protectionist policies were only "damaging to ourselves," the official added. Most countries represented at the G7 are already subject to a 10 percent baseline tariff imposed by Trump, under a temporary easing of higher rates, with European countries and Japan also slapped with additional levies on cars and steel and aluminum. Britain in May was the first country to sign a preliminary deal with Washington to avoid deeper tariffs, and the two leaders at the G7 said they had agreed on the accord's final points and signed the agreement. "I like them. That's the ultimate protection," Trump told reporters after a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the G7 sidelines. Trump opened a folder to display the signed documents, only for the paperwork to slide out and spread across the ground. "Oops, sorry about that," he said as Starmer scrambled to gather up the loose sheets and stuff them back in the folder. The trade issue is of particular interest to Canada after the Trump administration announced several extra levies on Canadian imports in recent months, throwing the country's economic future into deep uncertainty. After a meeting between Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney, the Canadian government indicated that the two sides could come to a trade truce deal in the next 30 days. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum will also have her face-to-face time with Trump as her country tries to renegotiate its three-way North American free trade agreement that also includes Canada. Dozens of countries are locked in negotiations with Washington to clinch some sort of trade deal before the US imposes stinging reciprocal tariffs, threatened for July 9. But US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week said that the date could be pushed back later for countries thought to be negotiating in good faith. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters he would team up with his counterparts from France and Italy to discuss the US trade threat with Trump directly. (AFP)
Asia Times
14-06-2025
- Asia Times
US support for Israel tainted by far-right ideology
The US's unwavering support of Israel is tainted by far-right ideology; the rest of the West must join the Global South to halt the genocide in Gaza and to prevent the crisis from escalating into a wider regional conflict. Last week, in a dangerous escalation of the Middle East crisis, Israel launched what it described as pre-emptive strikes against Iran. This latest development has further inflamed global protests, including in Western cities, against Israel's actions, particularly its ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The growing outrage over Israel's actions is contributing to a rise in antisemitism. In the US, two recent attacks targeting Jewish individuals—one in Colorado and another in Washington—have left many in the Jewish community feeling increasingly vulnerable. The FBI Director Kash Patel has classified these attacks as acts of domestic terrorism. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has vowed to combat antisemitism while reaffirming unwavering US support for Israel. Evangelicals represent a core constituency of the US support for Israel. Their backing is rooted in the belief that the founding of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy and signals the anticipated second coming of the Messiah. Beyond supporting Israel, evangelicals are part of a broader movement. Through initiatives like the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, conservative groups aim to promote Christian nationalist values and, more broadly, reestablish Christianity as the foundation of Western civilization. In February, Vice President JD Vance criticized European governments for suppressing conservative voices, framing it as an attack on freedom of speech. During Germany's recent general election, Elon Musk openly endorsed the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a far-right political party. The involvement of American conservatives in European politics has sparked alarm – especially in Germany, given the country's WWII legacy. In May, German authorities moved to ban the AfD, officially designating it as a right-wing extremist organization. Here is a troubling contradiction in US support for Israel: While publicly denouncing antisemitism, Trump has been linked to figures such as Nick Fuentes, a known Holocaust denier and Nazi sympathizer. Equally disconcerting, the evangelical support for Israel is rooted in a theological worldview that envisions the eventual conversion of all people—including Jews—to Christianity. This year, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. In its aftermath, the United Nations was founded with a solemn pledge: to prevent future world wars and ensure that atrocities like the Holocaust would never happen again. Yet for many in the Global South, the ongoing suffering of Palestinians has made those pledges seem hollow. Early in the Gaza war, South Africa took the lead in charging Israel of committing 'genocide', filing a case at the International Court of Justice. Despite these efforts, the Global South's attempt to stop the war proved futile as Western powers uniformly backed Israel's military response to the October 7, 2023, attacks and its claimed right to self-defense. However, two years into the conflict, it has become increasingly evident that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have broader, more maximalist territorial objectives—namely, the reoccupation of both the West Bank and Gaza as part of a vision for a Greater Israel. His strategy seems calculated to make Gaza utterly unliveable, creating conditions that would force Palestinians into mass displacement. With its conscience finally stirred, Europe began a long-overdue reckoning with Israel, as countries including Ireland, Spain and Norway publicly accused it of creating a 'man-made humanitarian catastrophe' in Gaza. The pressure intensified last week when five Western nations—including the UK, Canada and Australia—took coordinated action, imposing diplomatic sanctions on two far-right Israel cabinet members. At the same time, the Gaza war has fractured the Jewish diaspora, exposing profound divisions. In the US, organizations like the Jewish Voice for Peace have not only denounced Netanyahu's policies but also actively mobilized protests against Israel's military campaign. The dissent has reached even Israel's highest levels, seen in former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's authoring of a blistering Haaretz op-ed declaring, 'Enough is Enough. Israel is Committing War Crimes.' Since its founding, Israel's paramount security objective has been to ensure that Jews never again experience a tragedy like the Holocaust. But Netanyahu's current military actions in Gaza are now being labelled by the international community of committing atrocities akin to 'genocide.' In a cruel historical irony, the nation born from persecution risks replicating the very patterns of oppression it was created to escape. Another tragic irony lies in Netanyahu's far-right coalition aligning with elements of American extremist factions – the same white supremacist groups and Christian nationalist movements whose ideological forebears helped pave the way for the Holocaust. Beyond risking a wider regional conflict and fueling a global rise in antisemitism, Israel's latest strikes against Iran and its ongoing devastation of Gaza has severely damaged its international reputation. Yet the greatest tragedy lies in the catastrophic humanitarian toll on the Palestinian people—a damming testament to the world's failure to prevent yet another massive crime against humanity. The United States, which helped to establish the United Nations Charter precisely to prevent such atrocities, has become increasingly complicit under Trump-era policies that embrace far-right ideological agendas. In July, the Hague Group—co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa—will convene an emergency ministerial meeting in Bogota to address Israel's ongoing alleged crime of genocide. The international community must act decisively: it is time for the rest of the West to step up and join the Global South in working to end the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and prevent the crisis from spiraling into a broader regional war. Peter T C Chang is former deputy director of the Institute of China Studies, Malaysia
