The German government is developing contingency plans to prevent future Alternative für Deutschland (AfD)-led state governments from obstructing NATO troop movements during a security crisis, according to reports.
Officials are reportedly concerned that, should the AfD secure outright victories in September’s state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, or both, the party could use its control over regional administrations to delay the movement of allied forces toward NATO’s eastern flank.
Germany occupies a central position in NATO’s reinforcement plans, with key military transport corridors running across its territory. Defence planners have long regarded rapid transit through Germany as essential to reinforcing allies in Central and Eastern Europe during a crisis.
According to reporters, federal officials are examining legal mechanisms that would allow Berlin to override—while remaining within Germany’s constitutional framework—certain state-level decisions affecting military mobility.
Among the concerns reportedly being examined are delays in issuing transport permits, the allocation of state police resources, and access to regional transport infrastructure—areas that fall largely under state authority during peacetime.
An anonymous Western defence source told the newspapers that Russia could seek to exploit political divisions within NATO rather than relying solely on military force:
If [President Vladimir] Putin can find the cracks inside the alliance on a political level and exacerbate those, then that’s the shortcut to breaking the alliance.
Roderich Kiesewetter, a CDU member of the Bundestag and former army colonel, confirmed that officials are considering possible safeguards:
The key question is how to circumvent a state not adhering to the federal idea without violating the constitution.
Tobias Krull, deputy chairman of the interior committee in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament, likewise acknowledged that discussions were taking place on how the federal government could continue to function if an individual state government refused to cooperate during a national security emergency.
Neither the interior ministry nor the justice ministry commented on the report.
