German spy agency brands far-right AfD as ‘extremist’, opens way for closer surveillance

The BfV decision comes days before conservative leader Friedrich Merz is due to be sworn in as Germany’s new chancellor and amid a heated debate within his party over how to deal with the AfD in the new Bundestag, or lower house of parliament. The AfD won a record number of seats in the national election in February, coming in second behind Merz’s conservatives, which in theory entitled it to chair several key parliamentary committees.