Germany’s domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the far-right AfD party as an extremist group, setting 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.
The conservative US administration quickly condemned the move.
US Vice President JD Vance on Friday 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 was “the most popular party in Germany”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “tyranny in disguise” and said “Germany should reverse course”. President Donald Trump’s billionaire advisor Elon Musk has also previously defended the AfD.
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 could be appealed.
(With newswires)