Germany's foreign ministry pushed back in an extraordinary exchange with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he criticised Germany's intelligence decision to label the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as "right-wing extremist".
The dispute grew on Friday, involving Germany’s foreign office, Rubio, US Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk. It comes just before the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat and as Germany prepares to elect Friedrich Merz as chancellor after a coalition deal was reached last week.