Radical wing of far-right AfD to dissolve - media

FILE PHOTO: Bjoern Hoecke speaks during a demonstration by the rightwing anti-Islam movement Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) in Dresden, Germany, Feb. 17, 2020. REUTERS/Christian Mang

BERLIN (Reuters) - The radical wing of German far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) will self-dissolve after the domestic intelligence agency branded it an extremist entity, according to German media reports.

Bjoern Hoecke, leader of "Der Fluegel", or The Wing, has bowed to demands from AfD's leadership, Der Spiegel and Die Zeit magazines said separately in their online editions on Saturday.

Hoecke was quoted in an interview with website Sezession as saying: "We now need an impulse that points beyond the Wing and stresses unity of the party".

Last week's move by Germany's intelligence agency BfV to increase monitoring of Der Fluegel dealt a blow to the AfD, Germany's biggest opposition party, undermining its efforts to fend off accusations that it harbours racist and anti-democratic views.

The AfD has ridden a wave of anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2015 decision to welcome almost 1 million asylum seekers, and the BfV decision follows fatal attacks on Jews, Muslims and a liberal politician in Germany.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by David Holmes)