Germany updates: AfD party's 'extremist' label suspended

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and US President Donald Trump ended their 30-minute telephone call on Thursday by extending reciprocal invites.

Apart from stop-offs at the US military base in Ramstein, Trump has only visited Germany once as president — at the G20 summit in 2017.

He in turn invited Merz to Washington. The chancellor has said he would like to travel to the United States ahead of the G7 and NATO summits in June, giving him a window of around six weeks.

In his first call to Washington as German chancellor, Friedrich Merz spoke to US President Donald Trump about trade and the war in Ukraine, according to a German government spokesperson.

The pair agreed on the need to resolve trade disputes and how their countries could cooperate to push for an end to the war in Ukraine, the spokesperson added.

"Trump said he would strongly support Germany's efforts, together with France, Great Britain, Poland and other European partners, to achieve lasting peace," the spokesperson said. 

"President Trump congratulated the chancellor on taking office" earlier this week, the spokesperson added. "Chancellor Merz assured the American president that, 80 years after the end of the Second World War, the United States remains an indispensable friend and partner of Germany."

The German domestic intelligence agency BfV has said it will not publicly refer to the AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist movement" until a Cologne court rules on a bid by the AfD for an injunction against using the term.

The decision made by the BfV means it can avoid a potential court ruling prohibiting it from using the extremist label while the AfD's injunction bid is litigated. This is likely to avoid giving the AfD politicians the opportunity to say they had forced the agency to retract its classification had such a ruling come from the court.

The injunction is separate from the AfD's appeal against the BfV's decision, which will likely take a lot longer. German tabloid Bild reported that the agency made a similar move in July 2023 when itclassified the AfD's youth organization as "confirmed right-wing extremist."

The BfV decision last week was met with criticism from members of the Trump administration. It also sparked renewed calls in Germany for the far-right party to be banned.

New border control measures and directives to turn back some asylum-seekers at Germany's land borders are a "frightening alarm signal for [Germany's] democracy," a refugees' rights group warned on Thursday.

The Pro Asyl group said its employees were at the German-Polish border on Wednesday, when the instructions by the new interior minister were announced. The group added that what its personnel witnessed "does not bode well for the protection of the rule of law and human dignity."

"Unlawful rejections — including of particularly vulnerable people — as well as racial profiling, all of this looks like people are to be denied access to the asylum procedure as a matter of principle," Pro Asyl wrote in a statement on its website.

Pro Asyl refugee policy spokesperson, Tareq Alaows, reported witnessing racial profiling at the border on Wednesday.

"All people who, in the view of the federal police officers present, did not fit the image of a German or a European were checked, while everyone else was waved through," he said, adding that members of the Pro Asyl team were among those checked by authorities.

Switzerland joined the list of German neighbors that condemned Berlin's policy shift in regard to asylum-seekers arriving at its borders.

Germany's new Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced on Wednesday that some asylum-seekers will be turned back at the land borders.

Switzerland's Justice Ministry slammed the measure, which it said was taken without consultation.

"In Switzerland's view, systematic rejections at the border violate applicable law," the ministry said on X, adding that the Swiss government is considering countermeasures.

The ministry stressed Swiss officials were "convinced that the Schengen states can only overcome the challenges of migration together," adding that such struggles are "always about people, including vulnerable people [such as] women and children."

The new German measures offer some exemptions, including to pregnant women and children.

Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but is part of the Schengen visa-free travel zone.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has criticized Russia's "historical lies" over the Ukraine war, as he commemorated the Nazi defeat that marked the end of World War II in Europe 80 years ago.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to frame its three-year invasion of Ukraine as a battle against "neo-Nazis," invoking its World War II legacy to justify the war.

But Steinmeier was blunt: "The war against Ukraine is not a continuation of the fight against fascism."

"Putin's war of aggression, his campaign against a free, democratic country, has nothing in common with the fight against Nazi tyranny in World War II."

In a speech to the Bundestag, Steinmeier also honored the Allied forces and resistance fighters who, "with all their strength and at great sacrifice," brought down Hitler's regime.

He also paid tribute to the Soviet Red Army — which included both Russian and Ukrainian soldiers — for its key role in the Nazi defeat, including the liberation of Auschwitz.

"We do not forget this," he said during the somber May 8 commemoration of Germany's unconditional surrender. "But precisely because of this, we firmly oppose the Kremlin’s historical lies today."

Read more about Ukraine in our updates here. To follow our blog on VE Day commemorations, click here.

The German Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) will refrain from using the term "right-wing extremist" in its labeling of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) until a court ruling has been issued.

The BfV announced the extremist classification last week, paving the way for the far-right party to be surveilled by domestic intelligence services.

The party immediately responded by saying it would challenge the decision in court.

Vienna on Thursday called on Berlin to respect the European Union border laws, after German police deployed to the borders to tighten security, following the new government's orders.

"Austria generally welcomes Germany's endeavours in the fight against the smuggling mafia and illegal migration," the Austrian Interior Ministry said. "We assume that German authorities will adhere to the European legal order in all measures that are taken."

Germany and Austria are both part of the Schengen free movement zone, and border controls are only supposed to be temporary in response to an immediate threat.

On Wednesday, shortly after being formally appointed, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, of the conservative Christian Social Union party (CSU), announced that Germany plans to turn back some asylum seekers at the borders. 

Border security was already tightened on Thursday, especially on the southern borders with Austria and the Czech Republic and the western borders with the Netherlands and Belgium.

Germany's newly-elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to speak to US President Donald Trump on the phone on Thursday for the first time.

The pair have never met in person. But Merz has expressed fears regarding the future of the transatlantic relationship under Trump.

On election night, the new chancellor said that the Europeans must "achieve real independence from the US."

The continent celebrates Victory in Europe Day (VE) on Thursday, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany which eventually ended World War II in 1945.

Several parades and other events are planned across Europe, especially in countries which defeated Nazi Germany.

In the United Kingdom, a service at Westminster Abbey in London is planned, as well as a large concert, with pubs allowed to stay open longer.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron will celebrate with the traditional laying of a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe. A military parade on the Champs-Elysees is also planned.

Paris marks Thursday with the traditional laying of a wreath by

President Emmanuel Macron at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the

Arc de Triomphe and with a military parade on the Champs-Élysées. 

Germany also plans events to mark the day. 

The newly elected German Chancellor Freidrich Merz will join a wreath-laying ceremony in Berlin. The Bundestag will hold its own remembrance service too.

Germany's new Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul paid tribute to  "the enormous sacrifices of the Allies" in helping in Germany's liberation from the Nazis. He stressed that millions of people were "disenfranchised and tormented by the Nazi regime."

"Hardly any day has shaped our history as much as May 8, 1945," he said in a statement. "Our historical responsibility for this breach of civilization and the commemoration of the millions of victims of the Second World War unleashed by Nazi Germany gives us a mandate to resolutely defend peace and freedom in Europe today."

Follow our updates on the commemorations in Germany on Europe on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II here.

Over half of respondents to a survey on whether Germany's democracy is at risk agreed with the statement.

The survey was conducted by the YouGov and Sinus research institutes, asking some 2,200 people, including 64% who said democracy is at risk.

Some 60% of the respondents noted parallels between present day Germany and the state of affairs in the 1930s and 1940s, when Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party rose to power and then ruled Germany.

Of those surveyed, some 43% thought that the recurrence of an authoritarian rule similar to the Nazi dictatorship was likely, while 59% expressed concrete fears of an imminent third World War.

The survey coincides with Victory in Europe Day (VE) which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany that led to the end of World War II.

Some 15% of those surveyed still see this day as a defeat for Germany, with less than half the population (45%) viewing it as the day of Germany's liberation.

While 67% believe that the Nazi era continues to shape Germany's self-image today, 34% see that the country's role in WWII is given too much attention. Some 23% said the country's role in the war was given too little attention.

Over half the respondents (57%) agreed with the statement: "We focus too much on the dark chapters of German history." 

The survey was conducted online between March 21 and 24, with the results meant to represent German adult citizens who are 18 and older.

German police strengthened its presence at the country's southern and western borders, police officials told the German news agency DPA on Thursday, following instructions from Germany's new interior minister.

The federal police in the southern state of Bavaria said they were tightening control at the borders with Austria and the Czech Republic, while being mindful that "disruptions are as minimal as possible," a Munich police spokesperson told DPA.

A fixed checkpoint at the Saalbrücke bridge near Salzburg will be set up again. 

In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which lies on Germany's western borders with the Netherlands and Belgium, police also said they "significantly" increased their forces at the borders, DPA reported. 

The agency said its reporters did not observe any tightened measures on the western borders with the Netherlands. Public broadcaster WDR also said its reporters did not see any measures on the Belgian border.

A police spokesperson told DW that many border checks in NRW follow the mobile deployment concept.

"If you do not see us, that's good, as it means those we need to surveil would also not be able to see us," the spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, and on his first day in office, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the conservative Christian Social Democrats (CSU) announced that Germany will turn back asylum seekers, except for "vulnerable" groups such as pregnant women and children.

Germany's new government hit the ground running, with federal police increasing border checks in the south and west of the country, as per instructions from new Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who announced yesterday that the country will turn back asylum seekers.

Meanwhile in Berlin, officials are preparing to mark Victory Day (VE) and the defeat of Nazi Germany, while new Chancellor Merz braces for his first ever call with US President Trump.

This blog will keep you updated with all that's happening in Germany and its newly-elected government.