<p>Berlin: Germany's domestic intelligence agency on Friday classified the far-right Alternative for Germany as an extremist entity that threatens democracy, a move enabling it to better monitor the party that came second in February's federal election.</p><p>The status should make it easier for authorities to use secret methods to monitor the party for example by recruiting confidential informants and intercepting communications.</p><p>The AfD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p>The stigma as well as restrictions on civil service employment could also hamper its ability to attract members.</p>.Thailand reports first anthrax death, hundreds potentially exposed .<p>"The ethnicity- and ancestry-based conception of the people that predominates within the party is not compatible with the free democratic order," the domestic intelligence agency said in a statement.</p><p>"It aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society, to subject them to treatment that violates the constitution, and thereby assign them a legally subordinate status."</p><p>The AfD does not consider German citizens of immigrant background from predominantly Muslim countries as equal members of the German people, it added.</p><p>This approach led to individuals and groups being "defamed and vilified", stirring up "irrational fears and hostility toward them," it added.</p><p>The decision comes days before conservative leader Friedrich Merz is due to be sworn in as Germany's new chancellor and amid a heated debate over how to deal with the AfD in the new parliament.</p><p>The party won a record number of seats which theoretically entitles it to chair several key parliamentary committees although it would still need the backing of other parties.</p><p>Analysts said the decision risks further fueling support for the AfD and its narrative that it is being sidelined by a "cartel" of established parties. The party has topped several polls in recent weeks.</p><p>Certain factions of the AfD such as its youth wing had already been classified extremist, while the party at large was classified a suspected extremist case in 2021. </p>
<p>Berlin: Germany's domestic intelligence agency on Friday classified the far-right Alternative for Germany as an extremist entity that threatens democracy, a move enabling it to better monitor the party that came second in February's federal election.</p><p>The status should make it easier for authorities to use secret methods to monitor the party for example by recruiting confidential informants and intercepting communications.</p><p>The AfD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p>The stigma as well as restrictions on civil service employment could also hamper its ability to attract members.</p>.Thailand reports first anthrax death, hundreds potentially exposed .<p>"The ethnicity- and ancestry-based conception of the people that predominates within the party is not compatible with the free democratic order," the domestic intelligence agency said in a statement.</p><p>"It aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society, to subject them to treatment that violates the constitution, and thereby assign them a legally subordinate status."</p><p>The AfD does not consider German citizens of immigrant background from predominantly Muslim countries as equal members of the German people, it added.</p><p>This approach led to individuals and groups being "defamed and vilified", stirring up "irrational fears and hostility toward them," it added.</p><p>The decision comes days before conservative leader Friedrich Merz is due to be sworn in as Germany's new chancellor and amid a heated debate over how to deal with the AfD in the new parliament.</p><p>The party won a record number of seats which theoretically entitles it to chair several key parliamentary committees although it would still need the backing of other parties.</p><p>Analysts said the decision risks further fueling support for the AfD and its narrative that it is being sidelined by a "cartel" of established parties. The party has topped several polls in recent weeks.</p><p>Certain factions of the AfD such as its youth wing had already been classified extremist, while the party at large was classified a suspected extremist case in 2021. </p>