AfD’s Electoral Surge Triggers Intelligence-Security Alarm in Germany

The party’s recent victories in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saxony-Anhalt have heightened fears that its legislators may facilitate Russian espionage. Wippl asserts that “the Russians will certainly have agents in the AfD” “The Russians will certainly have agents in the AfD,” — Joseph Wippl.

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Germany’s intelligence system is split between the federal offices—the domestic BfV and foreign BND—and 16 state-level LfV units. Wippl cautions that a regional LfV could be compromised if the AfD interferes with its operations or leaks information, jeopardising cooperation with the federal BfV.

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In turn, the AfD described these designations as a “publicly discredited and criminalised” attack on democracy, calling them “politically motivated.”

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Wippl notes that the AfD’s push to resume Russian gas imports and halt weapons aid to Ukraine could reshape Germany’s foreign policy if the party gains national power, a scenario he deems unlikely without a “semi-collapse of the economies.” He also points to rising living-cost pressures and immigration debates as drivers of the party’s support, drawing parallels to populist waves that have influenced elections in the United States and the United Kingdom.

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• “The Russians will certainly have agents in the AfD,” — Joseph Wippl, former CIA Berlin chief.

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