German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday that he supports the idea of excluding potential ministers from the far-right party "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) in state governments from access to classified information exchange. This is reported by Politico, writes UNN.
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He explained this by citing the AfD's close ties with Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the main reason.
"Just listen to the public statements of many AfD representatives. Their close ties with Putin are undeniable," Pistorius said when asked whether he would have doubts about sharing secret information with an AfD minister in an interview with the German tabloid Bild.
"The suspicion that money is coming from Russia also exists," the minister from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) noted. According to him, "it is obvious that this cannot be allowed."
The AfD came second in the February 2025 national elections, winning 20.8% of the vote — the best result for a far-right party in Germany since World War II. Elections will also take place in September in two eastern states — Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
According to German media, the AfD believes its best chances for power in the near future are precisely in Saxony-Anhalt, where it could win an absolute majority and form a state government for the first time, which would be a major political upheaval in Germany.
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Under Germany's federal system, the 16 state governments have broad powers in various areas, including some intelligence agency activities.
A possible AfD victory in Saxony-Anhalt causes "extreme concern," Pistorius said. According to him, the AfD "leaves no doubt about its intentions regarding our democracy," so it would be a "very, very bad signal." He added that it is necessary to be prepared to act even more decisively to counter this.
Major successes in the September elections could further consolidate the AfD's dominance in large parts of eastern Germany and intensify the debate over whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives can continue to maintain the so-called "firewall" that keeps the far right from federal power.
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