German Intelligence Warns of Rise in Extremist AfD Members

The German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said in its annual report that the number of Alternative for Germany (AfD) members assessed as having links to right-wing extremism increased by 40 percent over the past year, according to the Times of Israel.

The domestic intelligence agency estimates that around 28,000 of the party's roughly 70,000 members fall into that category, up from about 20,000 a year earlier.

The report says the AfD has not moderated the positions that have drawn the attention of Germany's security services, including what the BfV describes as an ethnically defined concept of the German nation. The party rejects the assessment, arguing that the intelligence agency's findings are politically motivated.

The BfV described right-wing extremism as the greatest threat to Germany's democratic order. It also warned of increasing online radicalization among young people, a higher level of organisation among extremist groups and a growing willingness to use violence.

(mja)