On Friday, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) was classified as "confirmed right-wing extremist" by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). Now, there has been a first fallout: two AfD politicians and parliamentarians are not allowed to accompany Hesse's Minister for European affairs, Manfred Pentz, on a trip to Serbia and Croatia. Pentz explained that he could not expect international partners "to sit down at the same table with representatives of a party that has been confirmed as right-wing extremist."

Further measures also threaten the radical right-wing party: several federal states want to examine whether being a civil servant, including judges, police officers, teachers, or soldiers, is still compatible with being a member of the AfD.

Referring to the decision by the BfV, CDU leader Friedrich Merz said: "Since last weekend at the latest, it has also become inconceivable for me to elect AfD members of the German Bundestag to the position of committee chairperson."

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For the AfD, this represents a setback in the party's efforts to become politically mainstream after its successful federal election in February 2025, when it became the second-strongest political force in Germany with 20.8% of the vote.

The political headwinds come in the wake of the more serious assessment by the German domestic intelligence service. As of May 2, 2025, the agency no longer classifies the party as merely "under observation as........

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