The SPD and Green factions are calling for stricter access controls at the German Bundestag.
“Security conditions in Germany and Europe are becoming tighter” said Dirk Wiese, the parliamentary manager of the SPD faction, to the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday edition). “Internally, the threats from the growing right‑wing extremism are increasing”. Wiese said it is essential to be more vigilant and defensive in these challenging circumstances.
He expressly supported “even clearer rules for access authorisations to the properties of the German Bundestag, as well as more thorough reliability checks of employees” referring to plans by Bundestag president Julia Klöckner (CDU). “Stricter controls would apply to all factions. But, as is obvious, the AfD faction – a reservoir of criminals and ethnic hatemongers with espionage links to Russia and China – is particularly in focus here”.
Irene Mihalic, the parliamentary manager of the Green faction, said she sees the AfD becoming progressively more radicalised. “Their stronger presence in parliament after the last federal election makes the magnitude of the threat even clearer” she said.
Mihalic added, “A presence in parliament, at the heart of our democracy, is incompatible with anti‑constitutional aims. Anti‑constitutional individuals, in my view – a view I share with the parliamentary president – should not receive state funding. Therefore we want to discuss with the other factions what legal foundations must be created to limit this and to give the Bundestag police the authority to obtain information from the domestic intelligence service in justified cases. That would be a strong signal from parliament for a defensive democracy”.
