Far-right party draws watchful eye of German intelligence

BERLIN — Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said Tuesday it was putting the far-right Alternative for Germany under increased observation amid concerns that it is flirting with extremism. The domestic intelligence service BfV plans to examine public comments by Alternative for Germany members and its links to extremist groups, but stopped short of putting the party as a whole under covert surveillance, the agency’s head, Thomas Haldenwang, told reporters in Berlin. The party’s youth section and a party faction linked to a prominent leader in eastern Germany, Bjoern Hoecke, will be scrutinized even more closely, including through the possible use of covert methods, Haldenwang said, adding that there was sufficient evidence to indicate they could be classified as “extremist organizations.” He cited the youth organization’s stated goal of creating an ethnically pure country and efforts by Hoecke’s faction — known as “The Wing” — to downplay Germany’s Nazi past. German security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said other prominent party members who could face particular scrutiny include Andreas Kalbitz, a close ally of Gauland and AfD’s leader in Brandenburg state, and Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, a regional lawmaker in the neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt with ties to the extremist Identitarian Movement. A leading member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, Eva Hoegl, said the BfV’s decision to more closely scrutinize Alternative for Germany was “right and long overdue.” “Sections of the party have direct links to the right-wing extremist scene and are clearly hostile to the constitution,” Hoegl said.