German security agencies face dilemma after victories for far-right, far-left

This month's victories for far-right and far-left parties in German state elections have intensified official debate over whether security authorities can restrict secret information that might be shared with Russia or criminal groups.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which came close to winning an absolute majority in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, and the far-left Left Party, which came first in the capital Berlin on September 20, could both pose risks, senior figures in the ruling coalition say.

In Germany's federal system, states have their own domestic intelligence agencies under local government control, which share information with each other and operate with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

Politicians from rival parties and former security officials have expressed fears that if the agencies come under the authority of ministers from the far right or far left, confidential information could leak either to Moscow or, in the case of Berlin, to groups investigated over suspicions of organized crime links.

"This concerns information relating to organized crime – that would be an issue in Berlin," said Alexander Hoffmann, head of the parliamentary group of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU). "And it's about issues concerning Russia – that would be Saxony-Anhalt," he said.

The AfD rejects accusations from rival parties that it is effectively allied to Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying that it seeks only to avoid war and opposes Germany providing military support for Ukraine.

An AfD spokesperson said the government was "clutching at straws in an attempt to discredit us in the eyes of the electorate."

"It is telling that we have been confronted with such speculation and accusations for many years, yet the other side has failed to produce a single piece of evidence," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

The Left Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But party leaders have previously said they consider unacceptable any association with what German police identify as clan structures within the Kurdish, Lebanese and Palestinian communities in Berlin involved in organized crime.

The accusations of links to such groups are often intertwined with accusations of antisemitism, which the party also says it firmly rejects.

Security services drawing up plans, source says

The discussion over restricting confidential information has been underway ever since opinion polls pointed to a possible victory for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, where the local branch of the party is designated as right-wing extremist by the local office of the domestic intelligence agency.

Hendrik Wuest, the CDU state premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, earlier this month called for a special federal and state committee to be set up to consider how to deal with the issue of information-sharing with an AfD-led government.

"Of course, preparations are under way – but people are still waiting to see what happens, because it isn't even clear whether the AfD and The Left will form governments at all," said one security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Despite coming first in the election in Saxony-Anhalt, the AfD fell short of the absolute majority it would need to govern alone, and its coalition options are restricted because the other main parties have all ruled out cooperating with it.

The Left Party is, however, likely to try to form a coalition with the center-left Social Democrats and the environmental Greens, but both parties have demanded that it take action to eliminate antisemitism from its ranks.

Several of the AfD's state party branches have been designated as far-right extremist groups by domestic security authorities, prompting the AfD in turn to accuse the intelligence services of political interference.

Officials are also concerned that security officials involved in investigating the AfD could be targeted by a future AfD-led administration.

Tensions between political parties and the security services have surfaced from time to time in recent decades - but the idea of systematic exclusion from information sharing underlines the gravity of the division.

Along with the main domestic security agency, the BfV, other security services and state governments are now considering restrictions, although security officials say they would not want to cut off all information-sharing, citing issues including indications of potential terrorist attacks.

Left Party representatives say terms such as "clan-related crime" often stigmatize entire ethnic communities and say that contacts with local residents do not imply support for criminal activity.

Left Party, AfD suspicious of BfV

Like the AfD, it has long been suspicious of the BfV. The Left Party's Berlin campaign program called for the Berlin state agency to be abolished and replaced with "a transparent, democratically controlled body that is close to the people."

However, one Left Party member of the federal parliament has acknowledged social media contacts with a member of an extended family in Berlin accused of involvement with criminal groups and said he would "take the time to dispel any doubts" and "review my communication style."

"There is absolutely no justification for elected representatives having contacts with individuals associated with organized crime," Ferat Kocak said in a post on X/Twitter.