May 8 (UPI) -- Germany's intelligence service Thursday paused its extremist designation of the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party pending a court decision on an AfD legal appeal.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution declared the temporary suspension of the extremist designation in a Cologne administrative court.
"The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution today declared in the court proceedings -- without recognizing any legal obligation -- that it would provisionally suspend the classification of the AfD as a 'confirmed right-wing extremist movement' until the court has ruled on the urgent application," the office said.
The intelligence agency used a standstill agreement to suspend the designation until a court decision in the AfD appeal.
AfD has failed in two other legal attempts to fight the designation.
AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said on X that the pause of the designation is a "partial success" for the party.
The extremist designation was announced May 2 based on a 1,000 page report that included evidence the AfD was working against Germany's democratic system.
The FOPC said in a statement at the time that AfD is "incompatible with the free democratic order."
It was the first time that a political party with full Bundestag representation had been designated as an extremist organization.
The AfD holds 152 of the 630 Bundestag seats.
The designation empowered the intelligence agency, subject to judicial approval, to intensify AfD surveillance.
