Diplomacy. AfD "extremist": Germany "rebuilding" the Berlin Wall, accuses JD Vance

A new episode of diplomatic tension has emerged between the Trump administration and Germany. Washington accused the German government on Friday of having "reconstructed" the Berlin Wall, following the decision by German intelligence to classify the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as "right-wing extremist."

"The AfD is the most popular party in Germany, and by far the most representative of East Germany. Today, the bureaucrats are trying to destroy it," lashed out US Vice President JD Vance . However, he noted in a post on the X network, "the West brought down the Berlin Wall together. It was rebuilt, not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment."

"Our history has taught us that we must stop right-wing extremism."

Founded in 2013, the AfD made a historic breakthrough in the February 23 parliamentary elections, coming in second behind the conservatives with a score of over 20%, double the previous result. In the regions that once formed the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), the AfD won almost every constituency.

Before JD Vance, US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio had also denounced "disguised tyranny" in Germany and called on the authorities to "backtrack." The German Foreign Ministry immediately responded, saying in English that "this is democracy." "Our history has taught us that we must stop right-wing extremism," a clear reference to Germany's Nazi past.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution justified its verdict in a statement earlier Friday, stressing that the AfD's ideology "devalues ​​entire groups of the population in Germany and undermines their human dignity," which is "not compatible with the democratic order" of the country.

This decision rekindles the debate on the possible banning of this party just days before the inauguration of conservative Friedrich Merz as chancellor.

Vance had already supported the AfD

"What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD - which came in second in the last election - but rather the establishment's open-border immigration policies, which the AfD opposes," Rubio continued.

This is not the first time the Trump administration has interfered in German politics, provoking the anger of Berlin. The US vice president had already dismayed Germans and, more generally, Europeans, during a speech in Munich in February in which he claimed that freedom of expression was "regressing" in Europe. He also called for an end to the "sanitary cordon" around this party, and spoke with AfD leader Alice Weidel.