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German Intel Agency Puts Far-Right AfD Under Surveillance

VOA News

   Germany's domestic intelligence agency recently put the far-right
   Alternative for Germany (AfD) Party under surveillance for suspected
   extremist links that pose a potential threat to democracy, German media
   outlets report.

   The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt
   für Verfassungsschutz, or BfV) would not comment on the reports
   because of ongoing legal action by the AfD.

   The Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, would neither confirm
   nor deny the news reports, but multiple German media organizations
   confirmed the surveillance through government sources close to the
   situation.

   On Wednesday, AfD's parliamentary leadership, which controls 88 of 709
   seats in the legislative body, described the surveillance as
   "completely unjustified" and vowed to fight it in court.
   The co-leader of the Alternative for Germany far-right party Alexander
   Gauland and the vice-leader of the parliamentary group Tino Chrupalla,
   left, address a press conference, in the parliamentary compound of the
   Bundestag in Berlin, March 3, 2021.

   BfV's February 24 decision to classify AfD as a potential security
   threat is the first time in Germany's post-war history that a political
   party represented in Parliament has been put under such scrutiny.

   The designation gives the intelligence agency additional surveillance
   powers, including tapping phones and other communications, and
   monitoring the movements of AfD members.

   The AfD has become the main opposition in the German Parliament, which
   is entrenched in politics at all levels across the nation.

   The move also comes ahead of the September election that will choose
   Chancellor Angela Merkel's successor.

   Alexander Gauland, AfD's parliamentary floor leader, told reporters the
   designation is clearly an effort to ruin the party's chances in the
   election, and the matter will be decided in the courts.

   The AfD is currently the largest of four opposition parties in the
   national Parliament and has lawmakers in all 16 state assemblies.

   The party has moved steadily to the right since it was founded in 2013
   for critics of the shared euro currency. It has been strongly denounced
   in recent years for its anti-immigrant rhetoric and ties to neo-Nazis.
   Several AfD members sympathized with the violent storming of the U.S.
   Capitol on January 6.

   Several senior figures have quit in recent years, warning that the
   party was being taken over by far-right extremists.

   Recent polls have shown support for AfD sagging as low as 9% after
   winning 12.6% of the vote in 2017.