Germany's (AFD) far-right alternative said on Monday that legal action has been taken after Germany's domestic intelligence agencies formally classified the party as a right-wing extremist.
A spokesman for party co-leader Alice Weidel confirmed that the French had filed a complaint with the Administrative Court in the western city of Cologne, where the intelligence department (formally known as the Office of Constitutional Protection (BFV) is based.
The move comes after a lengthy report on Friday's BFV confirming the extremist nature of the AFD, which ranked second in the parliamentary elections in February.
Intelligence officials say there is concrete evidence that the anti-immigration party is working to threaten Germany’s democratic order and that its understanding of the German nation as race and descendants is incompatible with the country’s liberal democratic order.
The agency provided a wider surveillance power to the AFD, sparking debate over whether the German parliament should revoke partisans.
The Cologne Administrative Court will hear the case, which is responsible for litigation against BFV.
Last year, a court in Münster ruled that it was right for BFV to classify AFD as a suspicious right-wing extremist group.
