Germany defends AfD extremist classification after Rubio slams ‘tyranny in disguise’
Germany’s Foreign Office has defended a decision to classify the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as right-wing extremist, after sharp criticism from the White House.
US Vice-President JD Vance accused “bureaucrats” of rebuilding the Berlin Wall, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the designation as “tyranny in disguise”.
In an unusual move, the foreign office directly replied to Rubio on X, writing: “We have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped.”
The intelligence agency that made the classification found AfD’s “prevailing understanding of people based on ethnicity and descent” goes against Germany’s “free democratic order”.
