The domestic intelligence service of Germany last week labeled “extremist” the political party that won the second-most seats in the Bundestag in February.

The finding of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, against the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party will allow for significantly more intensive government surveillance of AfD. It also provides a foundation for further efforts to restrict AfD’s access to public airwaves, public funding, and participation in Bundestag oversight activities. And it puts Germany on a course to ban the party.