Far-right Alternative for Germany suspected of systematically passing military secrets to Russia – Spiegel

Senior German officials have accused the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party of deliberately abusing its parliamentary powers to collect and likely pass on classified information to Russia about Germany's military capabilities and the state of its critical infrastructure.

Source: German newspaper Der Spiegel

Details: According to Der Spiegel, AfD MPs have systematically submitted numerous parliamentary inquiries to the German government seeking details about military transport operations, drone countermeasures, cyber defence and vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. Officials and security sources fear this information may have been gathered for transmission to Russia.

Georg Maier, Interior Minister of the German state of Thuringia, stated that the AfD was abusing its parliamentary right to submit inquiries in order to deliberately probe the country's critical infrastructure. He said this behaviour shows signs of carrying out tasks assigned by the Kremlin. Maier directly accused the party of acting in Russia's interests.

A similar view was expressed by Thomas Röwekamp, Chair of the Bundestag's Defence Committee. In an interview with Der Spiegel, he stressed that the AfD deliberately and systematically asked extremely detailed questions about the Bundeswehr's military capabilities and its weaknesses.

Röwekamp believes such a level of detail could not be explained by normal parliamentary oversight and might indicate the collection of sensitive information valuable to foreign states, particularly Russia.

Sources in the Federal Ministry of Defence told Der Spiegel that Defence Minister Boris Pistorius shares these suspicions. The ministry believes that the AfD's inquiries may be coordinated and aimed at identifying gaps in Germany's defence systems.

Der Spiegel has found that the AfD has shown particular interest in drones, cyber defence and the resilience of government data centres in crisis situations. The party asked questions that could potentially reveal confidential information, such as how many data centres the Interior Ministry operates, which ones have backup power and how effectively they are protected from cyberattacks.

Detailed answers to such questions could be extremely useful for Russian hackers and military analysts in the Kremlin, Der Spiegel writes.

Coalition parties in the Bundestag have stated that there are obvious links between the AfD and the Russian embassy in Berlin. Moreover, Minister Maier mentioned the party's close interactions not only with Russia but also with China.

Jens Spahn, leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, stressed that the suspicion that MPs are working in parliament for the benefit of a hostile state is as grave as it gets. He added that if AfD leader Alice Weidel fails to provide a convincing explanation, she could be seen as complicit in possible treason.

Background:

• On 5 November, it emerged that Bundestag members Steffen Kotré and Rainer Rothfuß from the far-right Alternative for Germany were planning to travel to Sochi, Russia, in mid-November.
• Earlier, it became known that AfD deputy chairman Markus Frohnmaier is planning a trip to Moscow in 2026.
• Before that, three AfD MPs from Saxony-Anhalt attended a celebration of Vladimir Putin's birthday at the Russian embassy in Berlin.

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