AfD ‘extremist’ label sets up political high-wire act for Friedrich Merz

Incoming chancellor must now decide whether to ban flourishing far-right party amid widespread discontent

• German spy agency labels AfD as confirmed rightwing extremist' force

The decision by Germany's domestic spy agency to call the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party extremist" amounts to the starkest move yet by authorities to try to stop the advance of the populist political force.

Friday's classification by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) will open up the possibility for the security services to monitor the country's largest opposition party, including by recruiting people to inform against it and enabling interception of its communications.