Classification as right-wing extremist: Brandenburg AfD under pressure!

Classification as right-wing extremist: Brandenburg AfD under pressure!

On Thursday, August 14th, the Interior Ministry in Potsdam plans to publish a comprehensive report on the Brandenburg AfD, which will classify the party as “certain extremist”. This classification is the result of an intensive examination by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which was carried out in April 2025 after the AfD was previously only considered a suspected case. A document that has already been published through an online portal and contains summaries and quotes from leading AfD politicians is fueling the debate and providing material for discussion within the party and the public. As a first step, the Interior Ministry did not confirm or deny the authenticity of this report and instead refers to the press conference on Thursday, which is intended to reveal the relevant information on the classification. rbb24 reports that the AfD itself also plans to issue a statement and check the published version of the note for possible similarities with the previous version that it received as part of a lawsuit. This is particularly significant as the dispute between the AfD and the Interior Ministry escalated after the party withdrew an urgent application against its upgrade.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution accuses the AfD of serious violations of human dignity and a degradation of the rule of law. The documented statements include statements that portray migrants in particular negatively. According to the report, many of these statements can be attributed to clear violations of human dignity. For example, René Springer, the AfD chairman, said in the 2024 election campaign that Islamic headscarves could represent the “shroud of Europe”. Jean-Pascal Hohm, a member of the state parliament, called on young people to defend themselves against migrants. Such statements underpin the justifications for the right-wing extremist classification. maz online highlights that a large number of these statements come from public appearances, events and social networks.

The connections to the extreme right

In addition, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution documents AfD's connections to extremist groups such as the Identitarian Movement and neo-Nazism. These connections are evidenced not only by specific statements, but also by the participation of AfD politicians in neo-Nazi demonstrations. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the AfD is able to undermine the parliamentary system and polarize the political culture. This classification is made against the background of the increasing number of right-wing extremist crimes, which rose by 47.4% to a total of 37,835 offenses in 2024. Propaganda crimes in particular are increasing and pose a serious threat to social order. verfassungsschutz.de

The AfD's growing membership, now over 50,000, coincides with increasing right-wing extremist activity in the country. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is also observing the same tendencies among non-party groups and other right-wing extremist structures. This dynamic shows how deeply right-wing extremist ideology is anchored in society, how right-wing extremist rallies have increased recently and what challenges this poses for the security authorities.