Germany's far-right AfD harbours growing number of extremists, spy agency reports

Germany's biggest opposition party the Alternative for Germany is harbouring a growing number of right-wing extremists, the domestic spy agency said in its annual report on Tuesday, reporting also a surge in overall crime motivated by right-wing extremism.

The number of extremists within the AfD, which came second in a federal election in February, rose by 77% last year to 20,000 in tandem with a growth in party membership and its shift rightwards, the agency said.

The agency last month classified the party at large as "extremist" on the basis of a 1,100-page experts' report enabling it to step up monitoring of the AfD, although the party has legally challenged this.

Party statements frequently included xenophobic and anti-Muslim positions, with migrants from predominantly Islamic countries often accused of cultural incompatibility and a strong inclination toward criminal behavior, the agency said on Tuesday.

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AfD leaders frequently made statements that could be considered to attack the constitution during state election campaigns in eastern Germany last year - and mostly were not reined in by the party, the agency said.

It cited the leader of the AfD in Thuringia, Bjoern Hoecke, who at a campaign event in August said the election could "lead to the implosion of the cartel party system" and "finally bring about something that is a true democracy".

Crime motivated by right-wing extremism in Germany jumped 47.4% last year, including 6 attempted murders up from 4 in 2023 and 23 cases of arson up from 16, the agency said.