Vance, Rubio blast Germany for labeling far-right party AfD as 'extremist' [View all]

Source: The Hill

Vance, Rubio blast Germany for labeling far-right party as ‘extremist’

by Filip Timotija - 05/02/25 8:29 PM ET

Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio blasted Germany’s government for labeling the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as an “extremist” political group.

“Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy—it’s tyranny in disguise. What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD—which took second in the recent election—but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes,” Rubio said in a Friday post on social media platform X. “Germany should reverse course.”

Rubio’s condemnation came shortly after the German domestic spy agency designated AfD as an extremist entity that is a threat to democracy, permitting the government to bolster surveillance and oversight.

The designation, which was announced Friday, followed a 1,000-page report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The office conducted a three-year investigation into the entity, arguing that the political party is violating the “fundamental principles” of the constitution, including the rule of law, democratic principles and human rights.

-snip-

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5280643-vance-rubio-blast-germany-for-labeling-far-right-party-as-extremist/