By Friederike Heine and James Mackenzie
BERLIN, Feb 26 (Reuters) - A German court granted the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) an injunction on Thursday ordering the domestic intelligence agency not to classify it as "extremist" for the moment, pending a final decision on the case.
The party, which had appealed against the classification issued by the BfV agency last year, said the ruling was "a significant success for the rule of law and democratic fairness".
AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla, who said the classification had been used to discredit the party ahead of a series of state elections this year, added that it would examine the ruling by the Cologne Administrative Court.
"This is the first step, we have won here, and we should celebrate that as a success for now," he told reporters, denying that the party was opposed to Germany's democratic constitutional order.
The injunction is valid until the court rules on the case itself but it is unclear when that will be.
The court ruling said there remained a "strong suspicion" of efforts by AfD officials to go against constitutional protections including freedom of religion. But it said there was insufficient proof that this was true of the party as a whole.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said a final ruling had yet to be reached but said the court ruling found "sufficient certainty that efforts directed against the free democratic basic order are being developed within the AfD."
The decision by the BfV, known formally as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, was based on findings in a 1,100-page expert report that highlighted multiple comments by party officials it characterised as racist or Islamophobic.
The classification of "confirmed right-wing extremist activities" opened the way for the AfD, the main opposition party in parliament, to come under closer surveillance by security services.
The agency's move to classify the far-right AfD as extremist in May produced sharp reactions along the fault lines of German politics, with some lawmakers calling for the AfD to be banned and the party casting it as an attack on democracy.
It also sparked strong criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling on the German authorities to reverse their decision.
Dobrindt said the BfV would continue to argue its case in the main proceedings but he dismissed talk of a party ban, saying the best way to fight the AfD was by providing good government.
(Editing by Ludwig Burger and Madeline Chambers; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
