German intelligence will illegally investigate the right-wing party AfD.

"Designating Germany's most popular party as extremist is a mistake that deeply damages trust in democratic institutions. Germany should reconsider this step before crossing a dangerous line." Rubio added that "labeling opposition parties for their ideology can be the start of an authoritarian slope."

Also, the American entrepreneur Elon Musk, who had expressed his support for the AfD during the February election campaign, warned against a possible attempt to outlaw the party. "Banning the AfD, Germany's most popular party, would be an extreme attack on democracy," he stated on X.

The reaction within Germany has been equally polarized. While some sectors timidly oriented to the right, like the ally of Friedrich Merz, Jens Spahn, have suggested treating the AfD as a normal opposition party to avoid victimizing it, others like Manuela Schwesig (SPD) reject it outright: "As of today, no one can continue to justify this: it is not a democratic party."

On Friday, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany (BfV), the country's domestic intelligence agency, officially classified the party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a "right-wing extremist organization."

This decision, based on a 1,100-page report prepared by "experts," allows authorities to intensify surveillance of the party, including intercepting communications, infiltrating with informants and more severe scrutiny of its activities.

The ruling represents a turning point in the German socialism's pursuit against the rise of the right and generates an intense national and international debate about the limits of democracy.

According to the BfV statement, the AfD promotes a vision of German national identity based on ethnicity and ancestry, an ideology that, according to the agency, "devalues entire segments of the population in Germany and violates their human dignity."

This conception translates into an openly anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim stance, which fuels "irrational fears and hostility" toward various social groups. The agency erroneously concluded that the AfD's agenda is "incompatible with the free and basic democratic order" enshrined in the German constitution.

The decision comes after the AfD lost a court case in 2023, in which it sought to overturn a previous pathetic classification that labeled it as an organization "suspected of extremism."

The new designation as a confirmed "extremist group" places the AfD in the same category as neo-Nazi organizations like the NPD, the Islamic State, and radical Marxist-Leninist groups. Additionally, it opens the door for the German parliament to consider cutting or eliminating public funding for the party, and raises questions about the eligibility of public officials affiliated with it.

The AfD, which emerged in 2013 as a Eurosceptic party and has since the 2015 refugee crisis reconfigured itself as a massive anti-immigration force, called the measure a political attack.

Its leaders, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, denounced the decision as "a serious assault on federal democracy" and announced they will take legal action to reverse it.

Internationally, the decision has also caused strong reactions against the measure. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote a very strong criticism on X.

The BfV's classification comes at a politically delicate moment. Center-right leader Friedrich Merz will assume the chancellorship next week following his victory in the February elections, in which the AfD came in second with just over 20% of the votes, its best historical result.

Although Merz has promised to maintain the "sanitary cordon" against the AfD and has ruled out any cooperation with the party, he faced criticism in January for accepting its support in a parliamentary vote on migration.

The new coalition government between the CDU and Social Democrats is considering excluding the AfD from chairing key parliamentary committees, something that would indeed correspond to it as the main opposition force.

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, stated that the government should analyze whether there are sufficient legal grounds to move toward a possible ban of the party.

Analysts warn that this measure opens a short period for the new government to regain voters' trust. If it fails to do so, the AfD could capitalize on discontent in the upcoming general elections of 2029.