Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is facing fresh allegations of espionage on behalf of Russia. Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier said the party has been misusing parliamentary inquiries to gather information about critical infrastructure, including transport, energy, water systems, and digital networks. Maier noted that AfD members have shown unusual interest in police IT systems, counter-drone technologies, and civil defense equipment, suggesting coordinated intelligence-gathering efforts.
According to Maier, AfD lawmakers submitted 47 such detailed information requests in Thuringia over the past year, with a similar pattern at the federal level. “It looks as if AfD is simply executing orders from the Kremlin,” he said. The head of the Bundestag’s intelligence oversight committee, Mark Heinrichmann, agreed, warning that Russia is exploiting its influence within the parliament — particularly through AfD — to obtain confidential data. His deputy, Konstantin von Notz, accused the party of “damaging Germany by serving as a mouthpiece for dictators and amplifying their narratives.”
The accusations come amid AfD’s growing political power. The party became Germany’s largest opposition force after winning nearly 21% of votes and 152 seats in the February federal election. Recent polling in early October showed its support rising to 26%, surpassing Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU/CSU bloc and the ruling SPD. This surge reflects growing disillusionment among German voters with mainstream politics and the appeal of populist rhetoric.
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has already classified the entire AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization, though the party is contesting the designation in court. Its rhetoric frequently aligns with Kremlin narratives: AfD leaders oppose military and financial aid to Ukraine, call for “immediate peace talks” with Moscow, and echo Russian propaganda that blames NATO for the war. These positions undermine Germany’s unity with its EU and NATO allies.
AfD members have long been suspected of ties to Russian networks. The European Parliament is investigating former senior AfD member Petr Bystron for allegedly receiving money from Voice of Europe, a media outlet linked to Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and close ally of Vladimir Putin. Analysts warn that if espionage suspicions are confirmed, it would mark an unprecedented case of direct foreign infiltration into Germany’s parliamentary structures.
The scandal underscores Moscow’s strategy of destabilizing Western democracies by cultivating sympathetic political actors within them. While such operations may temporarily advance Russian influence, they risk further isolating Moscow. For Berlin, the AfD case may trigger stronger oversight mechanisms, tighter access controls to sensitive data, and deeper scrutiny of financial and media links connected to the Kremlin.
