AfD leader’s ‘Stasi’ remark sparks clash with German intelligence chief

AfD leader Alice Weidel described the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) as “dirty Stasi snitches,” prompting an angry response from intelligence chief Sinan Selen.

Selen rejected the Stasi comparison. Speaking at a symposium in Berlin, he emphasized that the BfV’s work is “always conducted on the clear path of the rule of law and democratic control.”

Stating that the Federal Office and state offices are subject to legally defined powers, Selen argued that they constitute “a clear counter-model to the secret services of totalitarian systems, especially the Stasi.”

In an interview with Welt TV, Weidel had compared the domestic intelligence service to the Stasi and called its employees “dirty Stasi snitches.” The AfD co-chair also criticized Stephan Kramer, the head of the domestic intelligence service in Thuringia.

“Look at the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia, the bearded Kramer. Look at what he looks like, what these kinds of people are. The man is in a motorcycle club,” Weidel said.

Later, in a post on X, she argued that no democratic country has “an internal intelligence snitch surveillance agency like the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Germany.”

BfV President Selen stood by his employees and praised their work. He said that those who undertake the task of defending against “internal and external threats” at the BfV every day “deserve respect and appreciation.”

“For this reason, I resolutely oppose any insult and slander against my colleagues at the BfV or in the state offices, whether they are employees on duty or the heads of the state offices,” Selen stated.

The Police Union (GdP) claimed that Weidel’s Stasi comparison relativized the injustice of that era. GdP Federal Chairman Jochen Kopelke said it was “a slap in the face to those who truly fought for freedom and democracy in 1989.”

The GdP chairman said he viewed Weidel’s “targeted and inhumane attacks” as an attempt to intimidate employees. “But we, as security agencies, will not be intimidated and will continue to work every day to protect our democracy and the security of all people in the Federal Republic of Germany,” he said.

Thuringia’s President for the Protection of the Constitution, Kramer, had previously countered Weidel’s personal attacks, saying, “Such methods have long been used when it is not possible to refute facts and arguments with objective counter-arguments in a fair discussion.”

Kramer views Weidel’s attack on the domestic intelligence service as a “desperate attempt to distract from her own partly unconstitutional stance, which has been proven by a comprehensive collection of facts and partially confirmed by the court.”

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution announced in early May that it would henceforth definitively classify the AfD as a “right-wing extremist” movement. However, due to a lawsuit filed by the AfD against this decision, the agency has suspended the classification pending a court ruling.

In four states, the party’s state organizations are already definitively classified as “right-wing extremist,” while in five other states, the AfD state organizations are considered “suspected cases.”

The BfV believes that the AfD’s new youth organization, Generation Deutschland, is, at first glance, no less radical than the previous organization (“Junge Alternative,” JA). “What we see is a continuity in terms of personnel and content. I do not expect any surprises or paradigm shifts within this structure,” Selen said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the symposium, he said the only innovation is that the new youth organization has been integrated into the AfD’s structure and “must therefore be addressed within that structure as well.”