An administrative court in the western German city of Cologne on Thursday ordered the country's domestic intelligence agency to cease referring to the political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as "confirmed right-wing extremist" until the designation's legality can be determined.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) classified the AfD as "certified right wing extremist" (gesichert rechtsextrem in German) in May 2025. In response, the AfD filed an emergency injunction. Thursday's decision is the first preliminary legal judgement in the case.

Judges found that while there was evidence of potentially unconstitutional statements and policies within the AfD, including demands to ban the Muslim call to prayer or minarets, it said that there was not sufficient evidence to characterize the party as a whole as extremist.

"Following examination under the summary procedure, it cannot ‌currently ​be established that the applicant, as a whole, is dominated by the positions discussed above," the court said in a statement.

The injunction ​is ‌valid until the court delivers a final ruling in the case, though it gave no indication of when that might be.

Why the suspension matters

The AfD is the country's second largest party in nationwide polling and Germany's largest opposition party.

Youth groups and individual members of the party have openly expressed views considered unconstitutional in Germany. In particular, they have distinguished between "ethnic Germans" and Germans with migrant roots, sparking widespread calls for the party to be banned.

The ​Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) classified the AfD "extremist" in May 2025.

The decision bars the (BfV) from expanding its powers to surveil the party.

The AfD — as well as allies such as the Trump administration in the US — blasted the "extremist" designation as undemocratic and a repression of free speech.

Interior Minster says to 'wait for the main hearing' 

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the federal government had taken note of Thursday's initial ruling on the AfD. 

"Now it's time to wait for the main hearing," Dobrindt, a member of the Bavarian CSU, told reporters. 

In the mean time, he said, the BfV intelligence agency would continue to montior the AfD as a suspected extreme right wing case, not a certified one — so at the second tier of three available observation levels rather than the highest. 

The legal spokeswoman for the Social Democrats, Carmen Wegge, said her party disagreed with Thursday's decision. 

"I am still of the firm conviction that the AfD is anti-constitutional and in violation of the constitiution and that the party should be evaluated by the constitutional court," Wegge said, indicating her party intends to continue seeking a bid to ban the party before the country's highest court.

However, for the moment, this is little more than a threat frequently made, not a motion moving through parliament or toward the court in Karlsruhe.

AfD's Weidel hails a 'big win' for party, and also 'for democracy'

AfD politicians celebrated Thursday's initial ruling in Cologne, including party co-chair Alice Weidel. 

"Not only is the domestic intelligence agency no longer allowed to classify the AfD as 'certified extreme right wing,' the Cologne Administrative Court also indirectly put a stop to the fanatics who want to ban the party," Weidel wrote. "A big win not just for the AfD, but also for democracy and the rule of law!" 

Weidel's co-chair Tino Chrupalla told journalists that the verdict was the a victory in the first stage and that the next step was to celebrate the partial victory. 

"And that's what we'll do today," he said. Chrupalla also said the decision would be a shot in the arm for campaigners in the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate ahead of regional elections in March. 

While a much less powerful force in western states, the AfD is nevertheless eyeing substantial gains in both regions, polling somewhere around or approaching 20%. 

The lawyer representing the AfD, Ralf Höcker, wrote online that he considered the decision an indication of the bigger ruling still to come. 

"This is an emegergency hearing, but the court's reasoning is clear and quite decisive," Höcker argued. "Summarized in short: In a decmocracy it is not sufficient to point to a few crazed party members in order to ban a party in its entirety. With this a ban of the AfD is no longer plausible. It is off the table."

Although the intelligence designation is not directly connected to some politicians advocating for a move to outlaw the AfD — something that has only happened twice in post-war Germany, and not at all since the 1950s — it would likely be used as a part of any potential case in favor if it came about. The discussion also picked up pace following the BfV's initial move last May.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez