Alternative for Germany, the leading eurosceptic populist party in Germany, has criticized Germany’s domestic intelligence agency for alleged political bias, calling for its abolition or major reform.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has called for the abolition of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. 📺 DETAIL: Alice Weidel, leader of the AfD, has declared that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, “should be abolished in its current form or at least fundamentally reformed.” Weidel accused the agency of being used to “monitor and suppress the political opposition” and argued that it should re-focus on preventing threats to national security, such as terrorist attacks, rather than policing democratic parties. The agency has labeled the AfD as a “right-wing extremist” organization for criticizing mass immigration and Islam, among other cultural and social issues. This comes amid growing criticism, even from former BfV personnel such as former BfV chief Hans Georg Maaßen, who accused past governments of “using domestic intelligence services to suppress opposition” last year. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “In no other Western democracy are political parties monitored by intelligence agencies… That creates an obvious conflict of interest.” – Hans Georg Maaßen, former BfV president 🎯 IMPACT: The AfD’s growing popularity with the German electorate has sparked fears within the country’s establishment that the party cannot be stopped democratically. As such, several left-leaning and establishment-aligned groups have called for the party to be banned or suppressed. The AfD’s call to abolish or reform the BfV demonstrates the growing salience of concerns about the weaponization of the German state and its agencies against the populist right. 📺 FLASHBACK: The AfD’s call to reform the BfV follows a series of polls that have placed the party ahead of its rivals. Back in August last year, the AfD secured 26 percent of the vote in a poll, two percent ahead of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) formerly led by Angela Merkel, on 24 percent. A poll reported this year showed similar results, establishing a record lead of 8.5 percent for the party. |
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