Worries are mounting in Berlin just before the Munich Security Conference as the German government becomes increasingly uneasy about deepening ties between factions of the US Republican Party and the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Officials fear that AfD representatives are actively spreading negative perceptions of Germany in the United States, adopting anti‑European inclinations already present in the American administration, and attempting to sway American public opinion by framing it around populist cultural‑battle rhetoric and stark comparisons with domestic US issues.
Transatlantic coordinator Metin Hakverdi (SPD) called for constructive dialogue. “I maintain close contacts in the United States with both Democrats and Republicans, including those in the MAGA wing. This is in Germany’s best interest” he said. His goal is to explain German and European positions and correct misunderstandings that arise in conversation. While many Republicans privately disagree with their president’s foreign policy, they have not voiced that discontent publicly. Nonetheless, they represent an important counterweight to certain developments in Washington.
Adis Ahmetovic, spokesperson for the SPD parliamentary group in foreign affairs, warned that Trump, AfD, and their close allies are fostering a “dangerous proximity” that threatens to split and replace Europe with an authoritarian system. He stressed that Germany and the EU must defend themselves: the federal government and its coalition partners need to identify new liberal political allies in the United States and strengthen existing ones. According to Ahmetovic, the MAGA movement is a clear adversary to be addressed.
