The prospect of a possible AfD-led state government in Saxony-Anhalt is causing unease among German security authorities. Stephan Kramer, president of Thuringia's domestic intelligence service (Verfassungsschutz), proposed on Tuesday that in such a case particularly sensitive findings held by the security authorities should only be passed between the federal states on a restricted basis. The state interior ministers' conference (IMK) met for an online session.
"In the event that concrete doubts arise about the protection of classified information by a political leadership, the domestic intelligence network should be prepared," Kramer told the RND newspapers in their Tuesday editions. As examples of how to deal with such a state government, he named graded information rights, a possible restriction on the transmission of particularly sensitive information, and the option of having individual sources handed over to another agency in good time so that they can continue to be run.
"Ultimately that would not be a political sanction, but classic risk management to protect human lives, intelligence access and classic protection of classified information," Kramer said.
The state interior ministers met at the invitation of their current chair, Hamburg's interior senator Andy Grote (SPD), for a "digital exchange on the current situation", as the interior senate said on Tuesday afternoon in response to an enquiry. "As the IMK we have always stressed that we are prepared to do what is necessary to guarantee the ability to act and the integrity of Germany's joint security structures at all times, and that is exactly what we are doing now," Grote said. On this point, he said, there had been "complete agreement" at the online meeting.
The RND also reported, citing security circles, that the domestic intelligence presidents of the 16 federal states and the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Sinan Selen, are coming together from Wednesday to Friday for three days of deliberations. The AfD is also due to be on the agenda. However, this meeting has been planned for some time and is not a reaction to the state election.
Konstantin von Notz, the Greens' internal affairs expert, called on the domestic intelligence agencies and interior ministries to prepare urgently for the event of an AfD takeover of government, otherwise the consequences could be "devastating". The fact that the domestic intelligence offices of the federal government and the states apparently only intended to discuss their further course of action this week comes too late and could have "fatal consequences", von Notz told the news agency AFP.
"We take note of the fact that there are now suddenly various hastily convened rounds of talks, both at the political level and at the level of the authorities concerned," von Notz went on, but added: "These should have been convened months ago."
Since the AfD's election success in Saxony-Anhalt at the latest, those responsible must "be clear that this is certainly not a purely hypothetical scenario and that it finally has to be dealt with the necessary determination", the Green politician warned. The police forces and the domestic intelligence offices of the federal government and the states "share extremely sensitive security policy data in joint systems, and that data would be devastating in the wrong hands".
Bavaria's interior minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) told the RND: "Because of the general security situation, the interior ministers will continue to coordinate particularly closely in the coming weeks." The situation in Saxony-Anhalt would "certainly also be a topic". Herrmann added: "As long as the formation of a government has not been completed, I do not think public speculation about individual aspects is useful."
The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt, which the state's domestic intelligence service classifies as confirmed right-wing extremist, clearly won Sunday's state election with almost 44 percent of the vote, more than doubling its share compared with the 2021 election. It does not, however, have an absolute majority of its own. The CDU, which has governed the state until now, suffered heavy losses and finished on just 17.2 percent. The SPD, Greens and Left Party are also represented in the state parliament, along with the BSW for the first time.
The federal states carry the main responsibility for internal security. An AfD interior minister would have wide scope for action as the state's most senior official responsible for the protection of the constitution. He could, for example, replace personnel at the domestic intelligence service and set new priorities within the security authorities. The way the AfD, seen as close to Russia, handles sensitive information is also a source of concern.
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