Germany rebukes U.S. for defending AfD extremism

A transatlantic diplomatic flare-up erupted this week as Germany responded forcefully to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s accusation that Berlin’s decision to designate the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) as a “confirmed right-wing extremist group” was tantamount to tyranny.

Rubio’s remarks, shared on social media, accused Germany of surveilling a legitimate opposition, claiming such moves betrayed democratic principles. In return, Germany’s foreign ministry defended its legal and constitutional processes, invoking historical responsibility and democratic jurisprudence. The row underscores a widening ideological fault line between Western allies over the limits of political tolerance and the role of state surveillance in defending democracy.

Germany’s Legal Designation

On Friday, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, formally escalated its classification of the AfD from a “suspected case” to a “confirmed right-wing extremist” entity. This shift grants the BfV broader legal powers to monitor the party, including electronic surveillance and the potential infiltration of its structures.

In January 2019 already, the BfV began formally scrutinising two AfD-affiliated groups, the hardline faction Der Flügel (The Wing) and the party’s youth organisation Junge Alternative (Young Alternative), for suspected extremist activity. At the time, both were designated as “suspected cases” of right-wing extremism, a status that authorised heightened surveillance to determine whether their activities posed a threat to Germany’s constitutional order.

The new BfV’s 1,000-page report now states that the AfD promotes a worldview based on an “ethnic-ancestry-based understanding” of the German nation, which it argues contradicts the principles of equality and universal dignity enshrined in the Basic Law. According to the BfV, the AfD’s platform includes calls for the unequal treatment of citizens based on origin, and stokes xenophobia and societal division.