Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said the federal Government is considering withholding classified information from State administrations led by the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD), ahead of regional elections in which the party is expected to make sweeping gains.
Pistorius, who belongs to the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), told the newspaper Bild that ministers in an AfD-run State could be refused access to sensitive material. He said the Government was examining closely who could be granted such access, adding that it was obliged to do so for reasons of national security.
The AfD is hoping to win an absolute majority in the September 6 State election in Saxony-Anhalt, in eastern Germany, a result that would allow it to form a State government for the first time. Under Germany’s federal system, State governments hold broad powers over areas that include the police and the intelligence services.
Recent polling put the AfD on about 41 per cent in the region, well ahead of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) on 23 per cent. A second eastern State, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, will also vote in September, where the party is leading though it is less likely to secure an outright majority.
Pistorius said he would feel uneasy passing classified material to an AfD State minister, pointing to what he described as many representatives’ proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The party is regularly criticised over its ties to Moscow and is under investigation by domestic intelligence services in several States over its stance on immigration.
All mainstream German parties maintain a so-called ‘firewall’ against cooperating with the AfD. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose CDU/CSU bloc came first in last year’s general election, has repeatedly ruled out any partnership.
The AfD has nonetheless continued to climb in national surveys. A poll published on Sunday gave the party a lead of eight points over Merz’s bloc, on 29 per cent against 21 per cent.
The comments came as the AfD re-elected its leadership at a national convention over the weekend. Co-leader Alice Weidel addressed delegates in a gathering that drew tens of thousands of protesters, some of whom clashed with police.
