Germany's domestic intelligence agency has placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party under surveillance on suspicion it espouses extremist positions that threaten democracy, according to national media reports.⠀
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The designation of the whole party as a ‘suspected case’ of far-right extremism gives agents from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party's communications.⠀
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So far the BfV has declined to comment on the media reports. Germany’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, said it would neither confirm nor deny them. The BfV is apparently unable to announce the decision officially because of an ongoing legal dispute.⠀
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The AfD started out as a euroskeptic party campaigning against Germany's membership of the eurozone in 2013, before shifting focus to adopt an anti-immigration and anti-Islam stance.⠀
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It arrived as a significant opposition force in the Bundestag in 2017, capitalizing in large part on public anger in parts of the electorate over Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2015 decision to allow in a wave of asylum seekers from conflict-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.⠀
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Other parties have ostracized the AfD, saying its rhetoric contributes to an atmosphere of hate that encourages political violence.⠀