A state court in Germany declared that German intelligence services classified the youth organization affiliated with the far-right Alternative for Germany party as a confirmed extremist movement, after a series of angry demonstrations over a far-right plan, woven at night, and recently exposed, to expel foreigners from Germany.
The Cologne Administrative Court issued the ruling on Monday, February 5, and the ruling has not yet become legally binding. The Alternative for Germany party and its youth organization can appeal the ruling to a higher court in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the city of Cologne is located. According to the “Deutsche Welle” website.
The court explained, in its merits, that this organization adheres to the concept of the ethnic origin of the German people and links its preservation to ethnic continuity by excluding immigrants from this society. The court considered this concept a crime against human dignity.
The court also took into account that the organization continues to carry out anti-foreign and anti-Muslim propaganda, in addition to incitement against democratic principles.
In 2023, the Federal Service for the Protection of the Constitution classified the branches of the Alternative for Germany party in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt as right-wing extremist organizations.
It is noteworthy that the leader of the Green Party in Germany, Omid Nouripour, last month called for banning the youth organization “Young Alternative for Germany” for its role in increasing hatred and agitation, stressing that banning it would be an effective strike against extremist structures, but the legal challenges are considerably significant and may take years to implement.
German media reported that the legal procedures are complex and require meeting the conditions specified in the federal constitution.
According to Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law, associations or organizations can be banned if their purposes or activities conflict with criminal laws or are directed against the constitutional order or the idea of international understanding.
For more than three weeks, tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets across Germany to protest against the far-right in general, and the Alternative for Germany party in particular.
These demonstrations erupted as a result of a report prepared by a team of investigative journalists from the “Correctiv” platform, which revealed a meeting held in the city of Potsdam last November, between figures from the far-right and figures from the Alternative for Germany Party, the Christian Democratic Party, which belongs to the conservative movement, and the Werte Union (Union of Values), which is considered ultra-conservative.
At this meeting, it was discussed how to make large numbers of foreigners, including asylum seekers, a segment that the attendees called “unintegrated citizens,” and immigrants holding German passports, leave the country, even by force.