Youth wing of Germany's AfD party classified as right-wing extremist

The youth organization of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is being monitored as a confirmed case of right-wing extremism, upgraded from a suspected case, the domestic intelligence service said on Wednesday.

In addition to the group, the Junge Alternative (JA), two other groups - the Institute for State Policy (IfS) and the "Ein Prozent" (One Percent) association - are now also classified at the same level, the the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) announced on Wednesday.

All three associations from the so-called New Right had previously been processed as suspected right-wing extremist cases by the BfV.

"There is no longer any doubt that these three associations of persons are pursuing anti-constitutional endeavours," said BfV President Thomas Haldenwang. "They are therefore classified and processed by the BfV as confirmed right-wing extremist endeavours."

The BfV statement said: "The JA propagates a racial concept of society based on basic biologistic assumptions."

Migrants of non-European origin are excluded by the JA as "basically not able to be integrated." In particular, immigrants with a - supposedly - Muslim background are attributed negative characteristics in a sweeping manner, such as cultural backwardness and a strong tendency towards criminality and violence.

The JA's defamation and vilification of political opponents is obviously not about political debate, "but about a general disparagement of the democratic system of the Federal Republic of Germany," the BfV said.

Last October, the JA elected AfD Member of Parliament Hannes Gnauck as its federal chairman. He and other JA members maintain contact with the IfS in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, whose best-known representative is the publisher Götz Kubitschek.

The idea propagated by the IfS ""that there is a German people beyond the people of the state [which is] defined in the Basic Law as the totality of German citizens, implies a reduction of naturalized citizens to second-class Germans," according to the BfV statement.

In addition, "violations of the principles of democracy and the rule of law can be observed in this association," the intelligence agency said.

In the network of the New Right, the IfS occupies a strategically important role in the view of the BfV.

Finally, Ein Prozent propagates positions that are racist and hostile to migrants, foreigners and Muslims, according to the BfV's assessment. In recent years, an increase in anti-constitutional statements has been noted in this association, the BfV said.