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Just weeks ahead of local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency is alerting election officials to supposed “anti-constitutional” views held by Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates.
Among those targeted is Marvin Weber, an AfD politician in Paderborn. In a 24-page dossier, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) accuses Weber of making controversial statements online—such as calling for a “culture of deportation” and criticising Germany’s postwar political system as a “colourful Frankenstein construct of the victorious powers.” The agency claims these comments signal sympathy for right-wing extremism and trivialise the Holocaust.
Despite the smear campaign, Paderborn’s election committee backed Weber’s candidacy—with every party but the Greens voting in favour. In other towns, however, including Schieder-Schwalenberg and Lage, similar tactics led to AfD candidates being banned from standing.
The intelligence agency justifies its actions using a clause in state law (§17 of the NRW Constitutional Protection Act), which allows it to warn officials under the pretext of “defending democracy.”
Weber has hit back, accusing the agency of being used as a political weapon. “The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is apparently being misused to discredit opposition voices—a practice reminiscent of totalitarian regimes,” he said.
The AfD has announced legal action, warning that the growing use of intelligence services to sideline dissident candidates is an attack on democracy itself.
