Germany Wants to Prevent the Far-Right AfD from Accessing Secret War Plan

Germany plans to deny an entire region’s government access to a secret defense plan if the far-right AfD comes to power in the elections.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius wants to ensure that the state government of Saxony-Anhalt, led by the pro-Russian “Alternative for Germany” (AfD), cannot pass on details of the plan to Russia.

OPLAN is 1,000 pages long and outlines a defense plan developed by German authorities and NATO in the event of war or a crisis. It calls for coordinated action by federal and regional authorities.

According to the publication’s source, Pistorius outlined his intentions on Tuesday during a closed-door meeting with defense policy experts from the parliamentary factions of the governing coalition. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were not public. Decision-makers speculate that OPLAN could be activated in the event of an escalation with Russia.

The plan is based on Germany’s central geographical location as a logistics hub for NATO troops, who would be deployed eastward if the defense of the North Atlantic Alliance were necessary. The full version of the OPLAN is available to the leaders of all 16 German states, while local authorities have access only to select parts of the overall plan.

German officials have been discussing for several months how to protect sensitive information in the event that a far-right party gains control over security agencies at the state level. Among the possible options is the deletion or classification of certain data, Bloomberg News reported in July.

The AfD, which Germany’s domestic intelligence agency partially considers a threat to the country’s constitutional order, won 44% of the vote, securing 39 of 83 seats in the Saxony-Anhalt election. The party fell just three seats short of an absolute majority in the state parliament.

If negotiations to form a coalition with the pro-Russian far-left party BSW, which won five seats and was the only party willing to discuss cooperation, are successful, such a coalition could bring the far right to power in one of Germany’s regions for the first time since World War II.

In late March, European diplomats and German lawmakers had already warned that the “Alternative for Germany” (AfD) party could be passing confidential information from internal EU databases to Russia.

This involves access to thousands of documents, including the minutes of closed-door meetings of ambassadors where plans to finance Ukraine using frozen Russian assets were discussed. Representatives of Germany’s ruling parties note that AfD politicians are attempting to obtain, through parliamentary inquiries, information on drone defense, transport routes for Western weapons to Ukraine, and measures to counter Russian sabotage. The party itself officially denies the espionage allegations and calls them baseless.

In early July, AfD member Noah Krieger (also known as Murat Dadaev) joined the Russian army and announced the formation of a battalion in Russia that will consist of Germans.