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.

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency formally classified the Alternative for Germany as a right-wing extremist movement, meaning authorities will have enhanced powers to monitor the party as a potential threat to democracy.

Excerpts from the classified report, released by the BfV, describes AfD politics as “incompatible” with Germany’s “free democratic order”, in particular for the party’s “ongoing” agitation against refugees and migrants.