US quarrels with Berlin after German spy agency brands far-right AfD as ‘extremist’
Vance, Rubio attack decision; German foreign ministry responds to US secretary of state: ‘We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped’
The decision by Germany’s domestic intelligence service on Friday 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 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.
“Central to our assessment is the ethnically and ancestrally defined concept of the people that shapes the AfD, which devalues entire segments of the population in Germany and violates their human dignity,” the agency said in a statement.
“This concept is reflected in the party’s overall anti-migrant and anti-Muslim stance,” it said, adding that the AfD had stirred up “irrational fears and hostility” towards individuals and groups.
The conservative US administration quickly condemned the move.
US Vice President JD Vance accused 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, wrote on X. He said the AfD is “the most popular party in Germany.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “tyranny in disguise” and said “Germany should reverse course.”
The German foreign ministry took the unusual step of replying directly to Rubio on X to say: “This is democracy.”
The ministry said 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 said.
US President Donald Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk also previously defended the AfD and spoke to a campaign rally for the party in February.
“It’s good to be proud of German culture, German values, and not to lose that in some sort of multiculturalism that dilutes everything,” he told the gathering over videolink.
The AfD won 20.8% of the vote in Germany’s national election in February, doubling its previous support and giving it the best showing by a far-right party since World War II. It placed second only to opposition conservatives led by Friedrich Merz.
The party has a history of antisemitic incidents and its leadership has expressed conflicting views towards Israel and the war in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.