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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maya Yang

Germany hits back at Marco Rubio after he panned labeling of AfD as ‘extremist’

An AfD supporter gives a Hitler salute during a protest against the government in Berlin, Germany, in 2022.
An AfD supporter gives a Hitler salute during a protest against the government in Berlin, Germany, in 2022. Photograph: Christian Mang/Reuters

Germany’s foreign ministry has hit back at the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, following his criticism of Germany’s decision to label the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party as a “confirmed rightwing extremist group”.

On Thursday, Rubio took to X and wrote: “Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to surveil the opposition. That’s not democracy – it’s tyranny in disguise. What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD – which took second in the recent election – but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes.”

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