German Defense Minister Proposes Excluding AfD from Classified Information

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Sunday said he is in favor of excluding potential far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ministers in state administrations from being included in the sharing of classified information.

He cited the AfD's close bonds with Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the main reason.

“You only have to listen to the public statements of many, many AfD representatives. Their close ties to Putin are undeniable," Pistorius said when asked whether he would have reservations about passing classified information to an AfD minister in an interview with German tabloid Bild (which, like POLITICO, is owned by Axel Springer).

"The suspicion that there is money coming from Russia is also present,” said the minister from the Social Democratic Party, SPD. It is “obvious that this must not happen,” Pistorius added.

AfD came in second place in the February 2025 national election with 20.8 percent of the vote, the best showing by a far-right party since World War II. And two eastern states, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, will go the polls in September.

According to German media, the AfD believes its best chance of power in the short term is in Saxony-Anhalt where it could win an outright majority that would send shockwaves through Germany as the party would be able to form a state government for the first time.

Under Germany’s federal system, the 16 state governments have broad powers in many areas, including some activities of the intelligence services.

The possibility that the AfD could win an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt is a cause of "utmost concern," said Pistorius. The AfD "leaves no doubt about its intentions for our democracy. Therefore, this would be a very, very bad sign. We must be prepared to deal with this even more decisively and counter it," he also said.

Big victories in the September elections would further cement the AfD’s dominance across swathes of eastern Germany and boost the debate over whether German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservatives can continue to maintain the so-called “firewall” that keeps the far right out of federal government.

Yet the AfD is still struggling with scandals. An image, obtained by POLITICO’s Inside AfD podcast, appears to show Martin Reichardt, an AfD member of Germany’s federal parliament, raising his left arm while smiling during a gathering six years ago.