Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies Bavarian AfD MP Nolte as a suspected case

State Secretary of the Interior Sandro Kirchner explained the decision in the state parliament. Nolte had attracted attention with numerous unproven statements directed against the principles of democracy and the rule of law. For example, he had repeatedly accused politicians from other parties of "betraying" the German population, of "sacrificing" them, or of "waging war" against them. Kirchner spoke of a clear suspicion against the free democratic basic order.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the assessment is based on an expert opinion that examined all of Nolte's statements since he entered the state parliament. The state office had evaluated both public appearances and parliamentary speeches. Classification as a suspected case means that concrete factual indications of anti-constitutional efforts exist, but the authority does not yet consider them proven.

Reactions from the state parliament

Nolte himself told dpa that he had not previously been aware of the decision. He announced that he would take legal action against the classification. The AfD parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament criticized the approach of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as politically motivated and accused the authority of interfering in the ongoing election campaign with the classification.

The Bavarian Act on the Protection of the Constitution stipulates that observation as a suspected case permits the use of intelligence means. These include, among others, surveillance, surveillance of mail and postal traffic, as well as the evaluation of open and covert sources. Surveillance of mail and postal traffic as well as the evaluation of open and covert sources.

The AfD has already been classified as confirmed right-wing extremist at the federal level by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution since May 2025. Several state associations, including the Bavarian AfD, have sued against this classification. The Federal Constitutional Court must decide in the coming months whether the federal agency may maintain its assessment.

Legal and political consequences

With Nolte's classification, he is, according to the assessment of the Ministry of the Interior, the first AfD member of parliament in Bavaria to be observed as a suspected case. In other federal states, individual AfD members of parliament as well as other parliamentarians had previously been classified as suspected cases or confirmed extremists. The observation can also have consequences for the immunity protection enjoyed by members of parliament.

The Ministry of the Interior pointed out that the classification as a suspected case is regularly reviewed. Should the indications harden, an upgrade to a confirmed extremist endeavor could occur. In the event of a revocation or reduction of the classification, however, the authority would have to present new facts that justify the continuation of the observation.

Politically, the decision provides further fuel for the Bavarian election campaign. The democratic parties represented in the state parliament, including the Greens, welcomed the classification and referred to the responsibility of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution for the protection of democracy. The AfD announced parliamentary initiatives to fundamentally review the practice of observing individual members of parliament.

Next steps

Legally, the observation of individual members of parliament is disputed. Critics point to the principle of the free mandate and the rights of parliamentary groups. Supporters argue that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must also be allowed to operate within democratically elected bodies when there are concrete indications of anti-constitutional efforts. The decision on the permissibility of such observations will likely also occupy the courts.

For the coming weeks, the Ministry of the Interior announced a briefing of the state parliament's Interior Committee. Nolte's constitutional protection committee will also be informed, it was said. The authority also wants to examine whether other members of the AfD parliamentary group in Bavaria show comparable irregularities.

Franz Schmid, the spokesperson for the Greens on the Interior Committee, described the classification as overdue. The events showed that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution must also not exempt individual mandate holders when their statements call the basic order into question. Nolte's mandate formally remains unaffected by the classification.