German foreign ministry hits back at Rubio and Vance over ‘extremist’ AfD

Germany’s foreign ministry hit back at US secretary of state Marco Rubio after he criticised the decision to classify the Alternative for Germany party as a “right-wing extremist” organisation.

The spat deepened on Friday to embroil the foreign office, Mr Rubio, Vice President JD Vance and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

It also occurred at a complicated time for Germany — just days before the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and Nazi Germany’s unconditional capitulation.

Plus, a coalition deal between the centre-right and centre-left parties was just approved, and now parliament is set to vote next week to elect conservative leader Friedrich Merz as the country’s new chancellor.

Mr Merz has not commented publicly on the intelligence service’s decision.

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution described the party, known as AfD, as a threat to the country’s democratic order, saying it “disregards human dignity” — in particular by what it called “ongoing agitation” against refugees and migrants.

The German domestic intelligence service’s move to classify the AfD, which placed second in national elections in February, as a right-wing extremist group means its officials can now use informants and other tools such as audio and video recordings to monitor its activities nationwide.

But it also risks fuelling the party’s claims of political persecution. Far-right parties have been gaining ground across Europe and the AfD attracts international attention, including support from Mr Musk, who is a close ally of President Donald Trump.

Party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla on Friday condemned the move as “a severe blow to German democracy” given that the party has grown into one of the country’s most popular political forces. They alleged that it was politically motivated, a claim the government denies.

“The AfD will continue to legally defend itself against these democracy-endangering defamations,” they said.

AfD’s second-place finish during the elections cemented the party’s status as a factor that other politicians cannot ignore but the so-called “firewall”, which mainstream German political parties have against working with far-right parties, has held.

In his post on Friday, Mr Rubio called on Germany to undo the classification.

“Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy — it’s tyranny in disguise,” he wrote. “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.”

The foreign ministry wrote “this is democracy” in a post that replied directly to Mr Rubio.

“This decision is the result of a thorough and independent investigation to protect our constitution and the rule of law,” the foreign office wrote. “It is independent courts that will have the final say. We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped.”

Mr Vance, meanwhile, referenced the Cold War in his post on X.

“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,” Mr Vance wrote. “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.”

Mr Musk, who owns X, re-posted Mr Vance’s comments and added “fate loves irony”.