Germany’s far-right AfD has been invited to the 2026 Munich
Security Conference, sparking debate over extremism and democratic norms.
The US vice president, JD Vance, blasted the AfD's exclusion
in a scathing address at this year's event, accusing Germany of suppressing
free speech by marginalizing the anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin party. The organizers
acknowledged the move.
The festival, which has taken place in the Bavarian city
since 1963, is managed by a "private, independent foundation" and is
"under no obligation to anyone to issue invitations to its events,"
according to an MSC representative who declined to elaborate on the new policy.
“It was decided to invite members of parliament from all parties represented in the Bundestag”,
in particular members of the foreign affairs and defence
committees, the spokesperson said.
“The same principle applied before 2024.”
Nine AfD MPs are on the defense committee, while about ten
are on the foreign affairs committee.
Asked whether Vance’s criticism had played a role in the
decision, the spokesperson said:
“The MSC decides independently on invitations to its events.”
Days before Germany's general election in February, Vance
met with Alice Weidel, theco-leader of the AfD, on the circumferences of the
MSC, raising eyebrows after turning down an assignment to meet with Olaf
Scholz, the chancellor at the time.
Despite the fact that the guest list was" not yet
complete," Weidel said she had n't gotten an assignment to the 2026 MSC.
For times, her AfD has sought to strengthen its connections to Donald Trump's Maga
movement.
For a weekend of public speeches and private conversations,
the MSC brings
together top military leaders, foreign and defense ministries, and heads of
state and government from around the world.
Former chancellor Angela Merkel's longstanding counsel,
Christoph Heusgen, the president of the MSC at the time, espoused the previous
no- AfD policy. Since also, Jens Stoltenberg, the former head of NATO, has been
named as the event's new leader. Still, Wolfgang Ischinger, a stager MSC leader
and former German minister to the US and Britain, has taken over as Norwegian
finance minister while Stoltenberg completes his term.
Alexander Hoffmann, the leader of the Christian Social
Union's administrative group, which is the Bavarian family party of Chancellor
Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union, advised against inviting the AfD
previous to the MSC's advertisement, pointing out that several of its officers
had close ties to China and Russia.
“Information also flows there and that’s why it would be a security risk,”
he told the dpa news agency.
“Perhaps he genuinely believes that this will enable him to avoid further intervention by the US government,”
he said.
“A more pessimistic interpretation would be that this is another step towards normalising the party and that at least some institutions are anticipating the AfD’s participation in government.”
According to Hillje, the German government cannot treat the
AfD like any other party since it "is more extreme than other western
rightwing populist parties."
AfD legislators should not be allowed to attend
"sensitive events" on the sidelines if they were attending the main
conference, according to him, since this may provide them with
"confidential information" that they could share with "contacts
in Russia."
The director of the Global Public Policy Institute, a think
tank with headquarters in Berlin, Thorsten Benner, however, pointed out that
the MSC frequently invited a "large Chinese delegation" without
drawing criticism and did not perceive a security risk in having the AfD MPs
attend the main conference.
“The MSC sees itself as a forum with a strong Republican presence. The bottom line for this forum is that it’s smarter not give Vance & the AfD the opportunity to present (the party) as victims,”
he wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.
The Guardian is aware that AfD MPs have been invited to the main
conference, not any alternative "confidential formats" that the MSC
is hosting.
The MSC's reversal of course coincides with a contentious
discussion in Germany about how to restrain the AfD as it becomes more
powerful. The party became the top opposition party in parliament after
receiving more than one in five votes in the most recent national election.
The extreme right has been prevented from joining a federal
or state government thanks to the "firewall" that prevents mainstream
parties from collaborating with the AfD. However, the AfD is leading the polls
in two of the five regional elections that will take place throughout Germany
in 2026.
What reasons did Wolfgang Ischinger give for inviting AfD?
Wolfgang Ischinger, interim president of the Munich Security
Conference foundation, approved assignments to AfD members without furnishing
direct public quotations on his particular reasons, but the decision aligns
with transferring invites to all Bundestag parties, particularly those on
foreign and defense panels, to foster comprehensive security dialogue.
This marks a reversal from previous rejections under
Christoph Heusgen, who barred AfD for conduct like blacking Zelenskyy's
Bundestag speech, seen as contrary to the conference's" peace through
dialogue" morality; Ischinger's board- approved move avoids further
politicizing the event or victimizing the party.
The choice, made ahead of Jens Stoltenberg's 2026
preemption, responds to examens from numbers like U.S. VP JD Vance on popular
inclusivity, despite ongoing debates over AfD's Russia China ties posing
security pitfalls.