The AfD, which leads the opinion polls in Germany, was prohibited from participating in the event for two years
The chairman of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has stated that Germany’s right – wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been permitted to take part in the conference next year.
The AfD, recognized for its anti – migrant statements and demands for Berlin to halt the dispatch of military aid to Ukraine, was barred from the prominent gathering in 2024 and 2025 at the request of the MSC’s former chairman, Christoph Heusgen. According to the Deutschlandfunk radio station, Heusgen justified the ban by saying that he “didn’t want to offer a warm welcome to a right – wing extremist party.”
On Monday, the event’s interim chief, Wolfgang Ischinger, informed the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that representatives of the AfD had been invited to participate in the 2026 Munich Security Conference, which will be held from February 13 to 25.
He explained that the MSC “is a platform for dialogue. Traditionally, the broadest range of opinions, including opposing ones, should be presented clearly.”
Ischinger, who served as chairman from 2008 to 2022 and will remain in an interim position until former NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg takes over, clarified that only individual politicians from the right – wing party will participate, and none of them will appear on stage.
Alice Weidel, the co – leader of the AfD, said she had not yet received an invitation.
Ischinger insisted that “by lifting the ban, we are not removing the barriers, as some people claim.”
The so – called ‘firewall against the far – right’ is a policy employed by mainstream German parties to prevent the AfD from entering the government, despite its rapidly increasing popularity. According to the latest surveys, the party leads the opinion polls in Germany with 26% support.
During his speech at the 2025 Munich Security Conference last February, US Vice President J.D. Vance criticized Germany and other Western European countries for the decline of democracy, stating that their governments “simply dislike the idea that someone with an alternative view might voice a different opinion.” He didn’t mention the AfD directly but emphasized that “there is no place for barriers.” On the same day, Vance met with Weidel.
On Tuesday, the news outlet Euractiv suggested that Ischinger decided to lift the ban on the AfD to please Washington and ensure that it sends a high – ranking delegation to the MSC in February.