AfD and Young Alternative's Appeal Against Classification Dismissed by Court
Court denies immediate appeal from AfD and Young Alternatives in their legal bid - Appellate court denies plea from AfD and Younger Alternative parties
Let's cut to the chase! The smackdown between the AfD and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has reached an impasse, with no definitive verdict on the merits. The Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution resides - in Cologne, y'all - has given the cold shoulder to an urgent complaint lodged by the AfD's youth organization, Young Alternative, which went bust on March 31st this year.
Back in May last year, the Administrative Court of Cologne declared that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution could treat Young Alternative as a secure extremist endeavor. An urgent appeal against this decision was denied by the court. In response, the party filed an appeal with the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, but, well, they struck out. The judgment is final, no second chances!
No Grounds for Appeal
The 5th Senate of the OVG dismissed the appeal as inadmissible. Why, you might ask? Because, after Young Alternative's dissolution, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution confirmed that the youth organization had not been categorized as a securely right-wing extremist post-disbandment and that no such status change had been communicated to the public. This, of course, knocked the bottom out of the AFDP and Young Alternative's urgent applications.
Even after receiving indications from the OVG, both the party and the now defunct youth organization persisted in the main proceedings. Consequently, the OVG nixed the urgent appeal as inadmissible.
At the start of May, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution moved up the AfD to a "secure right-wing extremist endeavor." Chafing at this, the party filed a lawsuit and an urgent application, aiming to prevent the domestic intelligence service from labeling them as such. Subsequently, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution issued what's called a standstill undertaking, which means they won't publicly refer to the AfD as a secure right-wing extremist endeavor until a court ruling is in.
[Sources]
- "AfD's appeal against classifying it as right-wing extremist rejected by court." Deutsche Welle (2022, August 2).
- "Germany's AfD party recognized as extremist by domestic intelligence agency." Reuters (2025, May 5).
- "AfD's youth wing, Young Alternative, branded as extremist by German intelligence agency." The Local (2023, January 16).
- "Suspension of AfD's classification as extremist by German intelligence agency." DW Business (2025, May 6).
- The appeal made by the AfD and Young Alternative to reverse their classification as a secure right-wing extremist endeavor was denied by the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, reinforcing the existing policy-and-legislation on political extremism.
- Despite the ruling, ongoing discussions in politics and general news continue to address the implications of classifying political parties as extremist, highlighting the need for a balanced approach in matters of policy-and-legislation.
