Berlin wants to withhold classified info from states ruled by opposition

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called the increasingly popular Alternative for Germany (AfD) an “anti-democratic” party with “undeniable” ties to Moscow German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called for any regional governments formed by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to be booted out of the federal intelligence-sharing network. The minister branded the right-wing party, which has been enjoying the largest share of public support for months, “anti-democratic” in an interview with Bild newspaper published on Sunday, and said Berlin should be prepared to “consistently counter it.” Pistorius claimed that the AfD could not be trusted with state secrets because of its alleged “undeniable” ties to Moscow. “We are intensively examining the question of to whom we can grant access to classified information,” said Pistorius, who has been a vocal proponent of Germany’s rapid militarization and potential mandatory conscription to prepare for a direct conflict with Russia as early as 2028. Is AfD ‘extremist’? Pistorius claimed that the AfD is “opposed to the very constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany” and willing to “destroy our democracy from within.” All other major political parties in Germany have been avoiding virtually any form of cooperation with what they call the “far right” as part of an informal ban policy known as the “firewall.” Read more Soros-backed NGO condemns Germany’s most popular party as ‘unconstitutional’ The AfD itself has been battling the “far-right” label almost since the party’s founding in 2013. Initially a party of Euroskeptics, the AfD adopted harsh anti-immigration rhetoric at the height of the 2015 refugee crisis, putting it on a collision course with virtually every other major political party in Germany. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, sought to label it a “confirmed right-wing extremist organization” in 2025.

The AfD challenged the designation in the Administrative Court of Cologne, which issued a temporary injunction in the case last year pending a final ruling. Back in 2025, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel described her party as a “libertarian conservative” force that fights bureaucracy and seeks to “free the people from the state.” She also criticized the then-German government for fostering “immigration into the social system” and accused the EU of Hitler-like censorship in a lengthy interview with Elon Musk on X ahead of the snap elections. Is AfD tied to Russia? Pistorius has insisted that no proof is needed and that “you only have to listen to the public statements of many, many AfD representatives.” He also claimed that there is a “suspicion” that the party receives “money coming from Russia.” Read more Leader of Germany’s most popular party wants to restore ties with Russia Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, the AfD was the only German political party that criticized EU sanctions and Berlin’s hardline stance on Russia as self-harming, calling instead for a pragmatic approach. The decision to abandon Russian energy imports played a major role in slowing down the German economy, which contracted in 2023 and 2024, and showed a minuscule 0.2% growth in 2025. Weidel told Reuters last week that Berlin urgently needed to lift the ban on Russian oil and gas imports to prop up its struggling economy, arguing that “the loss of this energy has set us back years.” “Cheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of ‘Made in Germany’. We need it back,” she said. The party’s co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, has also advocated the restoration of dialogue