Overview

• Germany's domestic intelligence agency has classified the youth wing of the far-right Alternative for Germany party as an extremist group.
• The AfD youth wing and two other far-right groups were labeled as extremist threats to democracy by Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
• Members of extremist groups can face consequences like losing public sector jobs or firearms licenses.
• The decision comes a year after the AfD party as a whole was put under government surveillance.
• The AfD has emerged as the biggest challenge to Germany's democratic values since World War II.