German defense minister fears the country's secret defense plan will fall into the hands of the AfD
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius fears that the classified operational plan for Germany's defense (OPLAN) could end up in the hands of representatives of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party following their victory in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt.
In connection with this, he is considering the possibility of withdrawing the document from the office of the premier of Saxony-Anhalt, the RND editorial network reported.
According to its information, the minister said this on Tuesday at a meeting with defense experts from the coalition parliamentary groups. The government of Saxony-Anhalt has digital and paper copies of the plan.
A spokeswoman for the German Defense Ministry avoided answering the question of whether the transfer of information to the government of Saxony-Anhalt would be restricted if it were headed by the AfD. In an interview with RND, she called these "hypothetical questions," but added that "the defense plan is classified as secret and, as a rule, handling it is strictly regulated."
The head of the office of the premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Rainer Robra, spoke out against the federal authorities' intention to withdraw the OPLAN. "I cannot imagine how the constitutionally enshrined cooperation between the federal states is supposed to function if the state of Saxony-Anhalt is cut off from information in the sphere of domestic policy or defense," he told RND. "In the event that a state of defense is declared, the Bundesrat (the council of representatives of the federal states) must also be involved, and Saxony-Anhalt's membership in it remains unshakable in any case." He pointed out that Saxony-Anhalt is located in the very center of Germany and for that reason alone it cannot simply be isolated.
The OPLAN, which runs to more than 1,000 pages, contains key measures for the protection of the country and NATO allies in the event of a crisis or military conflict. Under the document, Germany becomes a logistics hub for NATO and alliance forces heading to its eastern flank. The offices of the premiers of the federal states hold full copies of the document, while municipalities hold abridged versions.
On September 6, elections to the state parliament were held in Saxony-Anhalt. According to preliminary official results, the Alternative for Germany party won a decisive victory, receiving 43.8% of the vote. The CDU of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came in second, losing more than half of its votes compared with 2021. The Christian Democrats gained only 17.2% of the vote, the worst result for the CDU in Saxony-Anhalt. The SPD came in third, supported by 9.3% of voters.
Source: TASS
