The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany’s increasingly politicized domestic intelligence agency, has placed its former chief, Hans-Georg Maaßen, under observation over, among other things, his alleged proximity to individuals in the ‘right-wing extremist’ scene.
In a 20-page letter sent to Maaßen’s lawyer’s office the intelligence agency informed its ex-boss as to the reasons for his surveillance, listing information and details it has collected regarding his activities and associations that it believes are indicative of right-wing extremism.
Among other things, the BfV, in its letter, cites an essay co-authored by Maaßen in 2021 titled “The Rise and Fall of Postnationalism,” where he warned of “undemocratic, totalitarian supranational systems” seeking to implement a “new totalitarianism.” For the use of this language, the intelligence agency has accused him of using “anti-Semitic codes and ciphers.”
A second text, published by Maaßen in the Swiss outlet Weltwoche in November 2023, where he accuses Chancellor Scholz and Interior Minister Faeser (both SPD) of working to bring about the “collapse of German society” via mass migration in order “to build a neo-socialist social system on its rubble” is also mentioned.
The BfV, which is presently observing AfD’s youth organization Junge Alternative along with three of AfD’s state associations over alleged or ‘confirmed’ extremism, also lists that Maaßen had warmly received individuals flagged by the office as right-wing extremists, including the leader of the Austrian Identitarian Movement Martin Sellner.
The letter provides instances that the BfV suggests demonstrate Maaßen’s potential “affiliations with the Reichsbürger scene.”
Maaßen, in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, published a copy of the letter, addressed the content contained within, and leveled serious allegations against Federal Interior Minister Faeser, to whom the BfV is accountable. He accused Faeser—who’s written for a far-Left Antifa publication with links to far-Left extremism—of “misusing the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to combat political opponents,” a charge that has been leveled by others, namely AfD politicians, as well.
The federal government, he wrote, is “obviously afraid of me and the Values Union, so [Faeser] allows the BfV to observe and follow me,” adding the information in the spy agency’s letter contains no “substantiated evidence that justifies an observation.”
“This is an abuse of the protection of the constitution to combat political opponents as well as an attack on the free, democratic basic order,” Maaßen concluded.
In comments given to The European Conservative, AfD MEP Joachim Kuhs also sharply criticized the spy agency’s move, saying:
This is so ridiculous and far-fetched for anyone who even remotely knows Hans-Georg Maaßen, and understands how he argues, and what he says. To associate him with right-wing extremist activities and accuse him of being unconstitutional, especially coming from the agency he once led, is ridiculous and unbelievable.
The BfV’s move comes just weeks after Maaßen declared his plan to separate from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and form a new political party—called the Values Union—based on what he referred to as the “classic positions of the Union parties.” Maaßen and a growing contingent of right-of-center politicians in Germany view the CDU as having drifted far from its classical positions to embrace an ideology that’s akin to left-liberalism.
Maaßen, much to the disdain of the establishment, has left the door open for future cooperation with the AfD. In the past, he has argued that all presently existing firewalls ought to be torn down.
The former spy chief’s association with ‘right-wing extremism’ could have serious consequences. Newly adopted legislation, set to come into force in April, will impose stricter standards regarding allegiance to the Constitution for temporary retired political officials. Once this happens, Faeser’s activist interior ministry could initiate disciplinary action against Maaßen that could result in his pension rights being withdrawn.
