/Washington, May 3, 2025 – The classification of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) as "definitely right-wing extremist" by the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution has caused a stir far beyond the country's borders – especially in the USA. Leading politicians of the government there under President JD Vance have publicly and unusually clearly commented on the process - with massive criticism of the German state apparatus.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the decision via X (formerly Twitter) in no uncertain terms. According to Rubio, Germany has given its "intelligence service new powers to monitor the opposition". This is not an expression of a functioning democracy, but the opposite: "Tyranny in disguise," the minister wrote. The AfD is "not an extremist movement, but the voice of the people," Rubio continued - and criticized Germany's migration policy in particular as "deadly" and responsible for the division of society.

US Vice President JD Vance also spoke out in the evening. He described the AfD as the "most popular party in Germany" and "by far the most representative voice in East Germany". The accusation: The German establishment is now trying to systematically eliminate this political force. In a symbolic comparison, Vance declared: "The West once tore down the Berlin Wall together – today it is being rebuilt, not by Soviets, but by German bureaucrats."

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, the platform operator of X, also reacted to the news from Germany. A ban or the massive restriction of a "centrist and popular party" is, according to Musk, an "extreme attack on democracy".

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele expressed himself similarly sharply: "When will these rankings and maps finally stop calling Germany a functioning democracy?" he wrote on Twitter – a clear side blow to international democracy indices that regularly rate Germany well.

The Federal Foreign Office firmly rejected the US criticism in an official statement. The decision to classify the AfD is the result of a "thorough, fact-based and independent examination" by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. It serves to protect the free democratic basic order and is of course subject to judicial review. "We have learned from our history," the statement reads – an allusion to Germany's National Socialist past.

With the classification as "definitely right-wing extremist", the entire AfD can now be observed under extended intelligence measures. These include the interception of conversations, the covert gathering of information by informants or the targeted collection and evaluation of data on members and activities of the party. Legally, however, the AfD remains permissible for the time being – a party ban is tied to much stricter constitutional hurdles.

The transatlantic reaction to the Federal Office's decision is unusually sharp. The fact that high-ranking US government officials and influential voices such as Elon Musk are interfering so clearly illustrates the growing ideological divide within the West. While in Germany the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is seen as the guardian of democracy, representatives from the USA apparently understand this measure as an undemocratic intervention in the diversity of opinion.