‘Tyranny in Disguise’ — Rubio, Vance Blast Berlin over Move to Classify AfD as ‘Right Wing Extremist’ Party
The Trump administration has accused Berlin of acting in a tyrannical manner after a top intelligence agency officially branded the populist AfD party as an “extremist” group over its stance against mass migration, paving the way for more government spying against the right-wing party.
The supposedly independent Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) — which reports directly to the Interior Ministry of the elected civilian government — ruled on Friday that the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is a “right-wing extremist” organisation. The classification will allow for increased state surveillance of the anti-mass migration party, including observing its meetings with informants and wiretapping of party communications.
In a statement justifying the move, the BfV specifically cited the AfD’s stance towards immigration, specifically from Muslim countries, as being “not compatible with the free democratic basic order” of Germany.
“This can be seen in the large number of statements made on an ongoing basis by leading officials of the party that are hostile to foreigners, minorities, Islam and Muslims. In particular, the ongoing agitation against refugees and migrants promotes the spread and deepening of prejudices, resentments and fears towards this group of people.
“The devaluation of the aforementioned groups of people is also reflected in the generalised use of terms such as ‘knife migrants’ or in the general attribution of an ethnoculturally determined tendency to violence by leading members of the AfD.”
The agency also claimed: “German citizens with a migration history from Muslim countries are not considered equal members of the German people ethnically defined by the party.”
The move came as the AfD has risen to the top of the polls and after it won the most seats in its history at the February federal elections, making the populist party the largest opposition force in the Bundestag parliament.
The surging support for the party has come in the wake of growing public anger over the mass migration policies of successive governments in Berlin and a string of high-profile terror attacks at the hands of supposed asylum seekers from predominantly Muslim nations.
Top officials from the Trump administration, such as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have accused Berlin of attempting to sideline the party for political reasons.
“The AfD is the most popular party in Germany, and by far the most representative of East Germany. Now the bureaucrats try to destroy it,” Vance wrote on X, adding: “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.”
Secretary of State Rubio commented: “Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise.
“What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD—which took second in the recent election—but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes. Germany should reverse course.”
Germany’s Foreign Office shot back, claiming that the decision to approve wider surveillance on the AfD — which was already being spied upon after previously being classified as a “suspected” extremist organisation — did indeed represent “democracy”, while claiming that the BfV conducted a “thorough [and] independent investigation to protect our Constitution [and] the rule of law.”
“We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped,” the government ministry added.
Outgoing far-left Interior Minister Nancy Faeser — whose office oversees the intelligence agency — claimed that there was “no political influence on the new report” and that the BfV had acted “independently”.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, who is in a lesbian relationship with a woman from Sri Lanka, rejected this, saying: “The spy agency works for the ruling government, which is responsible for illegal mass migration, skyrocketing criminal rates, highest taxes, and highest energy prices. Since the AfD is the strongest party in polls now, they want to suppress the opposition [and] freedom of speech.”
The decision to classify the AfD as an “extremist” party does not necessarily mean that it will face an outright ban, which can only be imposed by either the Bundestag or Bundesrat legislative houses or the Federal Constitutional Court. However, the ruling may encourage such a move.
Other populist figures in Europe have faced bans in recent months, including the decision to prohibit frontrunner Călin Georgescu from running in the upcoming Romanian election and the five-year ban imposed on French National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who is also the leading candidate in the next presidential election.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: Follow @KurtZindulka or e-mail to: kzindulka@breitbart.com
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