Germany's far-right AfD votes to replace controversial youth wing

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has voted to swap out its controversial youth organization - a group which intelligence officials classify as right-wing extremist - with a new one.

At a party conference on Sunday, the party leadership introduced a motion with the aim of binding the AfD's youth organization more closely to the party. The motion then passed with the necessary two-thirds majority.

The current Junge Alternative (JA) has been steeped in scandal in recent years. In 2023, Germany's intelligence services found evidence the organization had anti-democratic aspirations and classified it as a right-wing extremist organization, a move which the AfD and the JA are fighting in ongoing legal proceedings.

The JA is relatively independent from the AfD. Members of the youth organization do not have to be members of the party, unless they are board members.

However, in future members of youth organization who are over 18, will have to be members of the AfD as well. The AfD's leadership said it hopes that this reform will give it greater power, for example in the event of misconduct.

Experts say the youth organization will also be better protected against possible bans if it is no longer an independent association, which they believe also motivated the step.

The AfD's executive board has proposed that the new group be called "Patriotic Youth," but the name has not yet been confirmed.