Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) have placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance, according to local media. That designation gives state agents more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party's communications. The BfV refused to comment on media reports from Der Spiegel magazine, the DPA news agency and public broadcaster ARD. The Interior Ministry, which oversees the BfV, said it would neither confirm nor deny them. Why has there been no official statement? The BfV is apparently unable to announce the decision officially because of an ongoing legal dispute. A court in the city of Cologne last week rejected an urgent motion by the AfD to stop the BfV from placing it under formal investigation . The party said any announcement that it was being investigated would undermine its right to fight the election on an equal footing to other political parties. In response, the … [Read more...] about Germany places entire far-right AfD under surveillance — reports