Germany declares AfD a right-wing extremist group

Germany's domestic intelligence agency has declared the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party a right-wing extremist organization.

The agency, called the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), said it has now confirmed this designation for the AfD, as it now has concrete evidence that the anti-immigrant party, founded in 2013, pursues goals that threaten Germany's democratic order.

"The party's understanding of the people, based on ethnicity and background, is not compatible with the democratic and free order," the agency said.

The positions of the AfD party and leaders violate the constitutional principles of the inviolability of human dignity, said the agency's vice presidents, Sinan Selen and Silke Willems.

The AfD, which came second in Germany's last parliamentary elections this year, had previously been designated a "suspected" extremist group. The party unsuccessfully challenged the agency's designation in court. (A2 Televizion)