Germany’s domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the far-right AfD party as an extremist group, setting off a diplomatic feud with the United States.
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The BfV intelligence agency, which had already designated several local branches of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) as right-wing extremists, said it moved against the entire party because of its attempts to “undermine the free, democratic” order in Germany.
The classification gives authorities greater powers to monitor the party by lowering the barriers for such steps as intercepting telephone calls and deploying undercover agents.
The conservative US administration quickly condemned the move.
US Vice-President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Germany of rebuilding a “Berlin Wall”.
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“The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt – not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,” Vance, who in February defiantly met the AfD leader in Munich, wrote on social media. He said the AfD was “the most popular party in Germany”.