{"id":1727,"date":"2026-07-06T06:48:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T06:48:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arabnewsmonitor.com\/2026\/07\/06\/why-does-berlin-want-to-withhold-classified-info-from-opposition-run-states\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T06:48:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T06:48:39","slug":"why-does-berlin-want-to-withhold-classified-info-from-opposition-run-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/?p=1727","title":{"rendered":"Why does Berlin want to withhold classified info from opposition-run states?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called the increasingly popular AfD an \u201canti-democratic\u201d party with \u201cundeniable\u201d ties to Moscow<\/strong><\/p>\n

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called for regional governments to be cut off from the federal intelligence-sharing network if the country\u2019s most popular party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), wins upcoming state elections.<\/p>\n

The minister branded the right-wing party, which has enjoyed the largest share of public support for months, \u201canti-democratic\u201d<\/em> in an interview with Bild published on Sunday, and said Berlin should be prepared to \u201cconsistently counter it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Pistorius claimed that the AfD could not be trusted with state secrets because of its alleged \u201cundeniable\u201d<\/em> ties to Moscow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are intensively examining the question of to whom we can grant access to classified information,\u201d<\/em> said Pistorius, who has been a vocal proponent of Germany\u2019s rapid militarization and potential mandatory conscription to prepare for a direct conflict with Russia as early as 2028.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Is the AfD \u2018extremist\u2019?<\/h2>\n

Pistorius claimed that the AfD is \u201copposed to the very constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany\u201d<\/em> and willing to \u201cdestroy our democracy from within.\u201d<\/em> All other major political parties in Germany have been avoiding virtually any form of cooperation with what they call the \u201cfar right\u201d<\/em> as part of an informal ban policy known as the \u201cfirewall.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"AfD
Soros-backed NGO condemns Germany\u2019s most popular party as \u2018unconstitutional\u2019<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The AfD itself has been battling the \u201cfar-right\u201d<\/em> label almost since the party\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany\u2019s domestic intelligence agency, sought to label it a \u201cconfirmed right-wing extremist organization\u201d<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n

Back in 2025, AfD co-chair Alice Weidel described her party as a \u201clibertarian conservative\u201d<\/em> force that fights bureaucracy and seeks to \u201cfree the people from the state.\u201d<\/em> She also criticized the then-German government for fostering \u201cimmigration into the social system\u201d<\/em> and accused the EU of Hitler-like censorship in a lengthy interview with Elon Musk on X ahead of snap elections.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Is the AfD tied to Russia?<\/h2>\n

Pistorius has insisted that no proof is needed of the AfD\u2019s supposed ties to Moscow and that \u201cyou only have to listen to the public statements of many, many AfD representatives.\u201d<\/em> He also claimed that there is a \u201csuspicion\u201d<\/em> that the party receives \u201cmoney coming from Russia.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Leader of Germany\u2019s most popular party wants to restore ties with Russia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, the AfD was the only German political party\u00a0to criticize EU sanctions and Berlin\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cthe loss of this energy has set us back years.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of \u2018Made in Germany\u2019. We need it back,\u201d<\/em> she said. The party\u2019s co-leader, Tino Chrupalla, has also advocated the restoration of dialogue with Russia and previously urged Merz to \u201ccall Moscow<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Gas
Germany now treating Nord Stream attack as \u2018war crime\u2019 \u2013 media<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The AfD has also criticized Berlin\u2019s unquestioning support for Ukraine and maintained that Kiev should pay compensation<\/a> for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines that delivered Russian natural gas to Germany.<\/p>\n

There is no hard proof of Moscow providing funding or any other form of assistance to the right-wing party, although German media claimed back in 2018 that some party members had traveled to Moscow on a \u201cRussian-sponsored charter.\u201d<\/em> Only one of the three politicians in question is still an AfD member.<\/p>\n

In 2024, AfD MEP Petr Bystron was accused of receiving money from a media network allegedly linked to Russia in exchange for \u201cspreading Kremlin narratives.\u201d<\/em> He denied the accusations and called the still-pending probe politically motivated.<\/p>\n

\n
\n READ MORE: <\/span>Germany is \u2018tyranny in disguise\u2019 \u2013 Rubio
\n <\/a>\n <\/p>\n

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have publicly welcomed<\/a> the party\u2019s pragmatic approach to Germany\u2019s national interests \u2013 but so have US President Donald Trump and key figures<\/a> in his administration and allied circles, including Musk, who openly campaigned on behalf of the AfD.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Why attack the AfD now?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The AfD is projected to perform well in the upcoming regional elections in two eastern German states, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while in Berlin it is also locked in a four-way statistical tie for first place in an exceptionally fragmented political landscape.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"RT\"
German police pepper-spray protesters amid opposition party convention (VIDEO)<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the AfD could gain 35% of the vote, according to a survey conducted by the INSA polling agency in late June. The result might make it the strongest faction in the regional legislature, but would hardly allow it to form a government single-handedly.<\/p>\n

In Saxony-Anhalt, the party is polling at 41%, nearly 20 percentage points ahead of its closest competitors from Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u2019s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), according to another INSA survey published last week. If the party is able to keep this margin of victory, it could potentially even secure a majority in the regional parliament and form a government without entering a coalition.<\/p>\n

The AfD had already gained record support in two regional elections outside its traditional political heartland in March 2026, securing nearly 20% of the vote in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and nearly 19% in Baden-Wurttemberg, virtually doubling its results compared to the previous elections in both cases.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

How unpopular is the current German government?<\/h2>\n

The AfD has been steadily gaining ground in recent months amid the plummeting ratings of Merz\u2019s government. An INSA survey published in late June suggested that it enjoys the greatest support among all German parties, at 29%, seven percentage points ahead of the CDU.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"FILE
Merz\u2019s ratings plummet to record low<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Support for the current German cabinet has hit a record low, with as many as 84% of Germans dissatisfied with Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u2019s performance, including 51% of supporters of his own party, according to an ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll published last week.<\/p>\n

The survey results make Merz the least popular chancellor in almost 30 years. Respondents were mostly concerned about the country losing its attractiveness for business (78%), the negative effects of climate change (66%), and the migrant influx under the current government (51%), the poll suggested.<\/p>\n

The US-based opinion research institute Morning Consult also ranked Merz the world\u2019s most unpopular leader in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has called the increasingly popular AfD an \u201canti-democratic\u201d party with \u201cundeniable\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arabnewsmonitor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}