BERLIN
\nGermany\u2019s domestic spy agency BfV has paused its classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist organization in what the AfD on Thursday called a partial victory for its challenge against the decision.
\nThe agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a \u201cconfirmed right-wing extremist movement\u201d until an administrative court in the western city of Cologne has ruled on an AfD bid for an injunction, a court statement said.
\nThe BfV\u2019s move last week to classify the far-right AfD as extremist produced sharp reactions along the fault lines of German politics, with some lawmakers calling for the AfD to be banned and the AfD casting it as an attack on democracy.
\nIt also sparked strong criticism from US President Donald Trump\u2019s administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the German authorities to reverse their decision.
\nThe extremist classification allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD, for example by recruiting informants and intercepting party communications.
\n\u201cThe measures associated with the classification will also be suspended,\u201d a court spokesperson said without elaborating.
\nThe agency\u2019s 1,100-page experts\u2019 report, which will not be released to the public, found the AfD to be a racist and anti-Muslim organization.
\nFounded in 2013, the AfD has surged to become Germany\u2019s second biggest party but other parties have shunned it as toxic.
\nThe AfD says its designation is a politically motivated attempt to discredit and criminalize it.
\nIts leadership welcomed the decision by the BfV, which the court said was not acknowledging any legal obligation.
\n\u201cThis is a first important step toward our actual exoneration and thus countering the accusation of right-wing extremism,\u201d party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said in a joint statement.
\nThe BfV did not immediately comment.
\nThe agency\u2019s decision to pause the AfD\u2019s classification does not mean the BfV has revised its assessment of the party.
\nThe AfD has previously lost a legal challenge when its now-defunct youth organization was classified as right-wing extremist.
\nOn Wednesday, the Republican chairman of the US Senate intelligence committee called for American spy agencies to \u201cpause\u201d intelligence sharing with the BfV, whose mission includes counter-terrorism.
\nSenator Tom Cotton called for the pause until Germany\u2019s government \u201ctreats the AfD as a legitimate opposition party,\u201d according to a letter to Tulsi Gabbard, Trump\u2019s director of National Intelligence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BERLIN Germany\u2019s domestic spy agency BfV has paused its classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as an extremist organization in what the AfD on Thursday called a partial victory for its challenge against the decision. The agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a \u201cconfirmed right-wing extremist movement\u201d until an administrative court […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477249,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-477239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n