In his maiden speech as chancellor to Germany's Bundestag, Merz tried to position himself as a unifying centrist figure.

Last week, the BfV, a German intelligence agency tasked with investigating threats to the “liberal democratic basic order,” made headlines by officially classifying the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as “right-wing extremist.

The party’s rise has created one political crisis. Any attempt to ban it would create another.

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

There's growing concern in Germany that society is becoming increasingly polarized. The question of how far right the AfD is threatens to further deepen the divide.Is the Alternative for Germany an extreme right-wing party or not?

The designation is certain to inflame debates over whether the party should be banned, though some polls show it to be the most popular in the country.

Marco Rubio called Germany's domestic spy agency's designation of the AfD party as extremist "tyranny in disguise."

(CN) — Alternative for Germany, a far-right anti-immigrant party that now tops opinion polls only two months after it scored historic gains in national elections, was classified as a threat to democracy on Friday by the country's domestic intelligence agency.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition is weighing how to confront the Alternative for Germany party, which has been rising in the polls.