The reclassification — AfD was previously designated a “suspected” extremist group — is likely to reignite debate over a political ban on the party.

Germany’s main opposition party Alternative for Germany challenged a ruling by the nation’s domestic intelligence agency that classified it as a right-wing extremist movement.

A German court said on Monday that far-right party Alternative for Germany had filed a lawsuit challenging the domestic intelligence agency's decision to classify it as an extremist organisation. A spokesperson for the administrative court in Cologne said the lawsuit and a corresponding emergency petition had been submitted,