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DW: German government rejects Rubio's accusation of

Politiko 2025-05-03 13:14:49

DW: German government rejects Rubio's accusation of

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has criticized Germany's decision by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to classify the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist party as "disguised tyranny". "Germany just gave its intelligence agency new powers to monitor the opposition," Rubio wrote on the online service X on Friday. "This is not democracy - this is tyranny in disguise," he continued. It is not the AfD that is truly extremist, but the immigration policy that the party rejects. "Germany must change course," the US Secretary of State demanded.

The Foreign Ministry in Berlin later responded to Rubio's post, stating that "this is democracy." The Foreign Ministry in Berlin's response states that "this decision is the result of a thorough and independent investigation to protect our Constitution and the rule of law." The final word will be left to "independent courts," the Foreign Ministry explained. "We have learned from our history that right-wing extremism must be stopped."

JD Vance and Musk comment on AfD classification as right-wing extremist

The US government under President Donald Trump is close to the AfD. AfD co-chair Alice Weidel received support during the election campaign in Germany for the February 23 elections from Trump advisor Elon Musk and US Vice President JD Vance.

Following Rubio's reaction on Friday, there were also reactions from US Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk for classifying the AfD as far-right. Vance wrote in X that the AfD is "the most popular party" in Germany. Now "bureaucrats are trying to destroy it."

American tech billionaire Elon Musk, who also works for the government of right-wing populist US President Donald Trump, also commented on the decision. In X he wrote that "banning the AfD, the most popular party in Germany, would be an extreme attack on democracy". Musk has repeatedly promoted the AfD ahead of the federal elections. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD as "definitely right-wing extremist" since Friday. The reason is "the extremist character of the entire party, which disregards human dignity", the Federal Office in Cologne said. Previously, the AfD as a whole had only been classified as a suspect./DW

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