White House quarrels with Germany after move against far-right AfD

The decision by Germany’s domestic intelligence service to designate the far-right AfD party as an extremist group has set off a diplomatic spat with the United States.

The BfV intelligence agency, which had already designated several local branches of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) as right-wing extremists, said earlier it moved against the entire party due to its attempts to “undermine the free, democratic” order in Germany. The classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the party by lowering the barriers for such steps as intercepting telephone calls and deploying undercover agents.

The conservative US administration has quickly condemned the move.

US Vice President JD Vance is accusing Germany of rebuilding a “Berlin Wall.”

“The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt — not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,” Vance, who in February defiantly met the AfD leader in Munich, writes on X. He says the AfD is “the most popular party in Germany.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio calls it “tyranny in disguise” and says “Germany should reverse course.” President Donald Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk has also previously defended the AfD.

The German foreign ministry takes the unusual step of replying directly to Rubio on X to say: “This is democracy.”

This is democracy. This decision is the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law. It is independent courts that will have the final say. We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped.

— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) May 2, 2025

The ministry says that the “decision is the result of a thorough and independent investigation to protect our constitution” and can be appealed.

“We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped,” the ministry says.