Germany's AfD accused of cooperation with Russian intelligence — Politico
Photo: The Alternative for Germany party has been accused of working for Russian intelligence services (Getty Images)
Representatives of centrist parties in Germany have accused the right-wing Alternative for Germany party of collecting data that is of interest to Russian intelligence services, Politico reports.
Prosecutors refer to official inquiries made by Ringo Mühlmann, a member of the party in the Thuringian parliament, to the regional government regarding the supply of weapons to Ukraine or a drone defense system in Germany.
According to Thuringia's Interior Minister Georg Maier, there is a strong sense that Alternative for Germany is carrying out tasks on a list compiled by the Kremlin.
For example, one of Mühlmann's inquiries asks what information the state government has about the transit of weapons through Thuringia from 2022 onwards.
In another inquiry, he asks what technical systems for protection against drones are known to the Thuringian police and how effectively they have been tested for use by law enforcement agencies.
As Politico notes, the right-wing party categorically rejected the accusations and stated that these were "legitimate questions from a member of parliament who is concerned and who takes the concerns and needs of citizens seriously" and that citizens allegedly have "legitimate concerns."
Scandals over AfD party
Earlier, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that Alternative for Germany demonstrates closeness to the Kremlin leader and “behaves like Putin's German party.”
At the end of June 2025, SPD planned to ban this party at the legislative level, although the radicals managed to enter the Bundestag. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU) opposed this idea.
Also on May 2, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution announced that the AfD party had been recognized as an extremist organization. The status was granted to Alternative for Germany due to its hostile rhetoric, disregard for the memory of the Holocaust, and use of Nazi slogans.
