Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, May 3: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has strongly criticized Germany after its domestic intelligence agency officially classified the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as an extremist organization. The designation, which allows expanded surveillance of the party, has ignited a transatlantic political firestorm.
In a sharply worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Rubio accused Germany of undermining democratic principles. "Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the Opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise," he wrote.
Rubio didn’t stop at surveillance. He directly attacked Germany’s immigration policies, asserting that “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.”
Calling for a policy reversal, Rubio added, “Germany should reverse course.”
Rubio’s comments come in the wake of a landmark announcement by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV). The agency declared AfD a confirmed right-wing extremist entity after concluding a nearly three-year investigation backed by an exhaustive 1,100-page report.
The BfV concluded that the AfD’s ideology—particularly its “ethnic-based concept of the people”—conflicts with Germany’s liberal democratic order. The designation moves the party from being a mere "suspicion case" to a fully classified extremist group, empowering authorities to step up surveillance, recruit informants, and intercept communications.
AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla condemned the move, calling it “a democracy-endangering defamation” and vowed to challenge it through legal avenues. “This is a serious blow to democracy,” they said in a joint statement.
Despite its extremist label, the AfD has been gaining political momentum. Last month, it surpassed the conservative CDU/CSU bloc in a national poll for the first time, becoming Germany’s most popular party in that survey.
Rubio’s comments are not isolated. Prominent American figures including Vice President J.D. Vance and tech mogul Elon Musk have previously expressed support for the AfD, aligning with its anti-immigration stance and criticism of Europe’s political mainstream.
As the diplomatic backlash unfolds, Germany stands firm in its internal classification, while the U.S. faces criticism for high-ranking officials appearing to legitimize far-right elements abroad.