When used correctly, terms like 'far-right' and 'extremist' carry very specific meanings about a party's political aims. Here's a look at the terms and why they are applied to the AfD.
'Right wing', 'far-right', or 'extremist'. In media reports on German politics and in common discourse these terms are often used to describe the Alternative for Germany (AfD).
While similar, these terms do have different meanings specified in legal and academic study. And in the case of the AfD in particular, the 'extremist' label is not a matter of editorial judgement but also a determination by Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
But not everyone who comes across the terms in media reports understands what they mean.
"What makes them far right?" reads one comment on a recent Facebook post for an article about the party's victory in Saxony-Anhalt, for example.
