Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the German government for moving towards a ban on the surging populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) and received a startling response from an account linked to Germany’s foreign office: “This is democracy.”
“Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition,” Secretary Rubio posted on Twitter, in response to news that Germany’s intelligence service was now going to classify the AfD as an extremist party, which will allow it to monitor the party.
“That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise. 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.”
In response to Secretary Rubio’s criticism, a Twitter account linked to Germany’s foreign office responded: “This is democracy. This decision is the result of a thorough & independent investigation to protect our Constitution & the rule of law. It is independent courts that will have the final say. We have learnt from our history that rightwing extremism needs to be stopped.”
Rubio was joined in criticizing the move by Vice President JD Vance, who said on Twitter that “the German establishment” has “rebuilt the Berlin Wall.”
“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,” Vance wrote on X.
“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.”
The AfD placed second in February’s federal elections, winning 152 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag. Last month, it topped national opinion polls for the very first time, with 26% support.
The party is especially popular in the economically underdeveloped regions of former East Germany, which were communist until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Major German parties have refused to form coalitions and work with the AfD as part of a so-called “firewall against the far-right.”
At the Munich Security Conference in February, Vice President Vance slammed the German government for its efforts to isolate the party and frustrate the will of the German people.
“Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There is no room for firewalls. You either uphold the principle or you don’t,” Vance said.