The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has launched a legal challenge against Germany’s domestic intelligence agency for designating the far-right party an “extremist” organisation.

A spokesperson for the administrative court in Cologne confirmed on Monday that the AfD had submitted both a lawsuit and an emergency petition in response to the decision by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

Germany, meanwhile, hit back at President Donald Trump’s administration in the United States over its criticism of the classification, suggesting officials in Washington should study history.

The Cologne court will begin reviewing the case once the BfV confirms that it has been notified of the filings.

The AfD had earlier denounced the designation as a politically driven attempt to marginalise the party.

“With our lawsuit, we are sending a clear signal against the abuse of state power to combat and exclude the opposition,” party co-leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said on Monday, alleging that the classification was an effort to “distort democratic competition and delegitimise millions of votes”.

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Pivotal moment

The classification, announced on Friday, gives Germany’s intelligence agency the power to surveil the AfD, the largest opposition party in parliament.

These powers include deploying informants and intercepting internal party communications.

A 1,100-page report compiled by the agency – that will not be made public – concluded that the AfD is a racist and anti-Muslim organisation.

The move came at a pivotal moment in German politics as the mainstream grapples with the continued rise of the far right.

Centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz is expected to be sworn in as chancellor on Tuesday after his party struck a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

The agreement was driven by a longstanding understanding among mainstream parties to sideline far-right political forces. The AfD came second to the CDU in February’s snap elections. The SPD finished third.

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil said last week that the coalition would review the situation to decide whether to revive efforts to ban the AfD.

History lessons

The new government will also have to deal with criticism from abroad over Germany’s approach to the AfD, in particular from the governments of the US and Russia, both of which are swift to condemn any “foreign interference” in their own affairs.

US Vice President JD Vance, who met with Weidel after the elections in February, insisted on Friday that the AfD was “by far the most representative” party in the formerly communist eastern Germany, adding: “Now the bureaucrats try to destroy it.”

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio branded the designation of the party “tyranny in disguise”.

In response, Germany’s Federal Foreign Office posted on Monday, “This is democracy,” and said the decision was “the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law”.

The ministry said independent courts will have the final say, adding: “We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped.”

The Kremlin also weighed in to criticise the action against the AfD, which regularly repeats Russian narratives regarding the war in Ukraine, and what it called a broader trend of “restrictive measures” against political movements in Europe.