The Cologne Administrative Court has decided that the federal authority must wait for the outcome of the main proceedings. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution must also refrain from publicly announcing such a classification for the time being. The AfD’s urgent application was essentially approved.

The decision can be appealed at the next higher instance before the Higher Administrative Court for North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster.

In the court’s opinion, there is sufficient certainty that efforts directed against the free democratic basic order are being developed within the AfD. However, this “does not shape it in a way that leads to an anti-constitutional underlying tendency being identified in its overall picture”.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had classified the AfD as right-wing extremist

Last year, after several years of review, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD as definitely right-wing extremist. The domestic secret service announced at the time that the suspicion that the party was pursuing efforts against the free, democratic basic order had been confirmed and had largely become a certainty.

The AfD took legal action against this. She filed a lawsuit and an urgent application with the Cologne Administrative Court because the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has its headquarters in Cologne (AZ 13K3895/25 and 13L1109/25). In doing so, she wanted to have the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution prohibited from listing, classifying and treating her as right-wing extremist.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution then initially issued a so-called standstill promise. This meant that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution no longer publicly described the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort until a court decision was made.

In addition to the expedited procedure, there is a procedure on the main issue. The legal dispute over the question of whether the AfD can be classified as right-wing extremist can drag on for a long time.