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

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

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

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.

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

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) asked the director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to refrain from sharing intelligence with Germany’s domestic intelligence agency days after the Berlin’s spy arm

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

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.

In today’s edition of The Capitals, read about EU scrutiny on Italy’s rule of law amid a ministerial no-show, the Warsaw-Bucharest axis sparking backlash days before the vote, and so much more.