A once-classified German intelligence report targeting the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has spilled into the public domain, stirring fierce debate and raising eyebrows across the political spectrum. On May 13, media outlets Junge Freiheit and Nius dropped the bombshell—publishing the entire 1,100-page document that had been locked away by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV.
Originally intended to remain behind closed doors, the report served as the cornerstone of the BfV’s decision on May 2 to label the entire AfD as “definitely right-wing extremist”—a move that could ultimately pave the way to banning the party altogether. That’s no small thing, considering AfD snagged 21% of the vote in the last federal election.
The Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the BfV, had previously defended its secrecy, claiming the file contained sensitive intel and source material. But not everyone’s buying it. Former SPD minister Mathias Brodkorb, writing for Cicero, called the cloak-and-dagger routine a smokescreen. According to him, the report leaned almost entirely on publicly available sources—mainly quotes from AfD leaders like Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla—rather than genuine undercover findings.
Critics say the agency lumped together trivial comments and serious accusations without nuance. For instance, Weidel’s defense of free speech—arguing it’s fine to call a politician a “moron”—was flagged in the report as anti-constitutional. She’d been referencing a pensioner whose home was raided for sharing a meme mocking Green Party Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. Weidel labeled the raid “intimidation,” a remark now used to suggest extremism.
Commentators didn’t hold back either. Publicist Roland Tichy blasted the BfV for promoting “anti-democratic views,” while conservative voice Birgit Kelle mocked the intelligence-gathering as something two interns could’ve scraped off social media.
Bottom line? What was supposed to be a high-stakes intelligence dossier now faces widespread criticism for being less about national security—and more about political theater.
