Here’s What’s Really Behind German Government’s AfD Crackdown
FILE —An election poster of the German far right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), right, is attached to a lamppost in front of a giant election poster showing a map of Germany, at the headquarters of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 29, 2025. Slogan reads: ‘Now AfD’. 
Besides trying to stigmatize the conservative populist party among voters, the German domestic intelligence agency’s move to slap Alternative for Germany (AfD) with an “extremism” label has far more sinister motives, says renowned German lawyer, academic and former AfD MEP lawmaker Gunnar Beck.The German intelligence service’s decision to recognize the AfD as a “right-wing extremist movement” is the latest step in a long history of attacks on the party, Beck told Sputnik, recalling that AfD “has been stigmatized and discriminated against, and as far as possible, really excluded from parliamentary processes” since it came into existence in 2013.
Political Ploy
The new “right-wing extremist movement” label will allow government agents to legally infiltrate the party, both to spy on it, and to act as agents provocateur, for example, by making extremist statements while pretending to be loyal party members.”Political parties in Germany are generally in a very privileged position. They get a lot of public funding. The more votes the party gets, the more public funding it usually gets,” Beck explained.”However, once a party is classified as extremist, and that’s now happened, the federal authorities can deprive it of public funding. Now, this decision would have to be confirmed by the German courts, but given that federal and regional ministers or federal political bodies, or regional ministries of justice appoint most judges in Germany, they are usually very obliging.”Gunnar BeckGerman lawyer, academic, former AfD MEPThis means that in future elections, the AfD potentially won’t have the same funding and resources available to campaign and spread its message.
Spreading Stigma
By classifying the AfD as right-wing extremists, the government will also be able to try to detract voters from voting for the party, and threaten civil servants who are members of the party with removal and loss of pensions, on the grounds that they ‘undermine’ the political order of the Federal Republic, Beck says.Authorities will also gain more power to initiate bogus criminal prosecutions against AfD members. Beck noted that already, “a lot of AfD politicians have to spend a fair amount of their income on legal action, defending themselves against very questionable criminal and other allegations.”It remains “an open question” whether the stigmatization strategy will work or not, Beck said, emphasizing that in the former East Germany especially, the public isn’t as likely to be influenced by the official state media and is more likely to see through government propaganda.World’Tyranny’ and ‘Democracy Theft’: AfD’s ‘Extremist’ Label Prompts Firestorm of Outrage10:19 GMT
Steering Policy
Over time, the legal authority to infiltrate the party also means agents could eventually "naturally influence AfD policy," either in the direction of radicalism and stoking infighting to discredit the party, or to influence it "to become more moderate and almost indistinguishable from the established parties," the observer said.
In both cases, the goal is the same: to get people to “lose confidence in the AfD once it doesn’t really offer any real alternatives any longer.”
The power of intelligence infiltration operations cannot be overstated, Beck emphasized, pointing out that "Germany has no less than 19 secret services," including three federal ones. "The intelligence sector in Germany is the only growth sector in the whole of the economy, together with the armaments industry now. So they have enormous public resources."
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Could AfD Just Be Banned Outright?
In theory, the government could try to outlaw the AfD, with the courts likely to rubber-stamp the process because they are appointed by the government and parliament, Beck says.It would be “very difficult,” however, “to justify outlawing a party that currently has between 20 and 25 percent” support, “and is the second-largest party in Germany as a whole, and the largest party in east Germany.”Therefore, Beck expects authorities to stick to the strategy of stigmatization, infiltration, and divide and rule, and ban the party later, if needed, once support drops to 10 or 15%.WorldPoll: Over 50% of Germans Believe AfD Could Win Next Parliamentary Elections23 April, 09:32 GMT
Europe Losing Its Democracies
“Germany is not alone in cracking down on political criticism against the establishment,” Beck said, pointing to similar processes in Romania and France against leading non-systemic opposition.”I think we are seeing Europe move into a much more authoritarian period. The so-called democratic states are [not] democratic because they do not respect democratic outcomes and undesirable (from their point of view) outcomes of elections, and they don’t follow the rule of law,” Beck lamented.”We are already seeing widespread political repression in Europe. And what’s happening in Germany… is simply the tip of the iceberg. But as you know, an iceberg is usually about seven times larger than the tip of it above the surface. And I would expect it’s roughly the same with political repression in Germany and Europe. There’s much more going on than is reported in the papers and we ever get to know about it. Everything I’ve said so far shows how heavily stacked the political game in Europe is against those who do not accept the status quo, against the so-called populist or extremist parties,” the observer summed up.WorldEuropean DeMOCKracy in Action: Who Besides Le Pen Has been Politically Targeted by the EU?2 April, 17:33 GMT