The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly responded this Friday to the criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who described the German government’s decision to grant new surveillance powers to its intelligence agency over the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as “disguised tyranny.”
“This is democracy,” stated the German Foreign Office on its official X account, emphasizing that the measure is the result of “exhaustive and independent” research aimed at protecting the Constitution and the rule of law. “We have learned from our history that right-wing extremism must be stopped,” the ministry added.
Tensions erupted following the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s decision to classify the AfD as a right-wing extremist organization. This classification allows intelligence services to use tools such as informants, recordings, and surveillance to monitor their activities.
In X, Rubio reported that “Germany has just given its intelligence agency new powers to monitor the opposition” and defended AfD, pointing out that what is truly extremist are “the deadly open-border immigration policies” of the current German government.
The U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the magnate Elon Musk also spoke in defense of the far-right party, with Musk actively promoting AfD on platform X.
The AfD, which came in second place in the February elections, has been accused of “disregarding human dignity” and inciting hostility against migrants and refugees, according to German intelligence. Its leaders, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, described the decision as a “severe blow to democracy” and announced legal action.
The controversy erupts on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and amidst a political process that could lead the conservative Friedrich Merz to the position of chancellor. So far, the “barrier” that isolates the far-right from institutional power remains strong.