Bundeswehr: Military counterintelligence service defuses reporting requirements for AfD supporters

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Bundeswehr soldiers: It is not known how many AfD party members are

Photo: Revierfoto / IMAGO

According to SPIEGEL information, the Bundeswehr had to subsequently defuse an internal instruction according to which soldiers must report "immediately" if they are members of a state association of the AfD or its youth organization Junge Alternative (JA) that is classified as "certain right-wing extremist".

The Military Counterintelligence Service announced such a reporting requirement on the force's intranet in February. The internal instructions asked soldiers to report immediately if they were members of the JA or if they moved to a state branch of the AfD that was classified as right-wing extremist.

However, after the report became known, the post was significantly toned down: In the current version, the MAD now makes it clear that the corresponding membership will only be disclosed in the course of an “upcoming security check”. As a rule, security checks for soldiers are renewed every three years.

In a reply to left-wing MP Martina Renner, the Ministry of Defense confirmed that they had to make a “content correction” to the article. The ministry said that the legal situation is currently not sufficient for an immediate reporting requirement, but that they are working on tightening it up.

Renner criticizes the delay. "Membership in extreme right-wing organizations like the JA contradicts the basic duties of soldiers," she told SPIEGEL. If Renner has his way, the report would have to be “submitted unscheduled and with a foreseeable deadline.” If the JA were to be banned, its members would have to be dismissed from the Bundeswehr immediately, she demanded.

It is not known how many soldiers are members of classified regional associations of the AfD or the JA. When asked by SPIEGEL, a spokesman for the ministry only said that belonging to an organization that is classified as right-wing extremist is always a reason for the MAD to start processing suspected cases.

Boris Pistorius' house emphasized that it was the Bundeswehr's claim and goal to "remove recognized extremists and people who lack loyalty to the constitution from the Bundeswehr or keep them away from it."

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