According to a court ruling, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution can classify the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative (JA) as right-wing extremist. The party and the JA failed with a lawsuit against the classification before the Cologne Administrative Court, as the court announced. However, the corresponding decision is not yet legally binding. The AfD and its youth organization can lodge a complaint with the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution initially classified the JA as a suspected case and then declared in April 2023 that the AfD offshoot would be treated as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort.
The court now explained that the observation of the JA by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution serves to clarify whether a party or its youth organization is pursuing anti-constitutional goals. The evidence of anti-constitutional efforts by the JA has become a certainty. The AfD youth organization represents “a ethnic concept of ethnic origin”. The exclusion of “ethnic strangers” is a central political idea of the organization. The court emphasized that this idea represents a violation of human dignity, which includes the fundamental equality of people.
The JA also carried out “continued, massive anti-foreigner and, in particular, anti-Islam and anti-Muslim agitation,” the court continued. Immigrants are “described as parasites and criminals.” In addition, the JA agitates against the principle of democracy and maintains ties to associations that are classified as unconstitutional, such as the Identitarian Movement. It is clear to the court that “the JA is an extremist effort.” (AZ:13 L 1124/23)