CDU Politician and former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, accuses the government of serious failures in internal security.
“In the past few years, it has become clear that the security and democracy in Germany are as threatened as they have not been in a long time” he told the “Spiegel”. “The police and intelligence agencies urgently need more powers to be able to counter these threats. Three years of the coalition government were three lost years.”
Haldenwang is running for the CDU in the early Bundestag election in February after his departure from the office. The coalition government has “moderately strengthened” the security authorities, Haldenwang said. “They, however, also need modern powers to combat crime, extremism, terrorism, espionage, sabotage, disinformation, and foreign influence.”
The police and intelligence agencies are “not well enough equipped to operate in the internet, social networks, and chat groups” the CDU politician said. The authorities need “some of the powers that services in the USA and other Western states have.” This would make the Federal Republic less dependent on information and terror warnings from abroad, Haldenwang said.
According to the former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the security situation in Germany has deteriorated in many areas. Germany is “as much threatened by Russian espionage and sabotage as we may not have experienced even in the Cold War” Haldenwang said. Islamist terrorism is also on the rise again. The greatest threat to democracy in Germany, Haldenwang warns, “is the threat from the right-wing extremist scene.”
Haldenwang warns of the AfD’s election before the election. “I want to make it clear to the people that the AfD is no alternative in Germany” he told the “Spiegel”. “The AfD seeks proximity to Moscow and wants to leave the EU. That alone would be a catastrophe for Germany.”
Party politicians of the AfD are promoting a “remigration of millions” Haldenwang said. This is “a racist project that is highly critically to be seen from a constitutional law perspective.” Ultimately, the AfD wants “to get rid of people with a migration background in a large way, to push or remove them from Germany in any way.” This contradicts human dignity, the CDU politician said.
Haldenwang was the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution from 2018 to 2024. Under him, the agency began to observe the AfD due to right-wing extremist tendencies. In November, Haldenwang surprisingly announced that he would run for the CDU in the early Bundestag election. He received much criticism for the seamless transition into politics.
In the “Spiegel”, Haldenwang defends himself against the criticism. “I don’t understand the excitement” he said. “As president of the constitutional protection, I was always neutral. The observation of the AfD as a right-wing extremist suspicion has been checked by courts and declared to be in order.” At the same time, it is “as for every citizen, my right to exercise my basic rights and to run for a political mandate” said Haldenwang. He can “recognize no conflict of interest.