Brandenburg: State Office for the Protection of the Constitution temporarily suspends AfD classification

Brandenburg's Office for the Protection of the Constitution has temporarily suspended its classification of the state AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization due to a legal dispute. Following a lawsuit by the party against the upgrade, the intelligence agency issued a so-called standstill declaration, according to the Interior Ministry in Potsdam. Until the conclusion of the expedited court proceedings, the AfD state association will continue to be considered a suspected case.

This was in response to a request from the Administrative Court in Potsdam, the court stated. The standstill declaration gives the court the opportunity to examine the matter in more detail, particularly in light of the ongoing proceedings regarding its classification as a suspected case.

After right-wing media published the AfD report, it is now possible to understand on almost 1,110 pages why the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the party as definitely right-wing extremist.

"This means that until the state of Brandenburg concludes its expedited proceedings, no report will be made on the upgrade, and the AfD Brandenburg regional association will continue to be treated as a suspected case," the ministry further stated. This also initially rules out the publication of the report for the AfD's upgrade by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The state Office for the Protection of the Constitution upgraded the AfD state association from a suspected case to a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor," which was announced on May 7. The AfD subsequently filed a lawsuit and an urgent application against this classification with the Administrative Court. The party seeks to have the classification declared unlawful and revoked.

The AfD's upgrade also caused a stir because the head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Jörg Müller, initially lost his post due to his communication in the case. Then, a week ago, Interior Minister Katrin Lange (SPD) resigned. The status of the AfD's classification in Brandenburg is now similar to that at the federal level. At the beginning of May, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution upgraded the entire AfD to confirmed right-wing extremist status. However, pending a decision by the Cologne Administrative Court on the party's urgent application, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is putting the new classification on hold and is initially continuing to list the AfD only as a suspected case.

In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the respective state Office for the Protection of the Constitution has already classified the party as definitely right-wing extremist.