The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has submitted thousands of official questions in state parliaments — a right of any elected party. But critics argue that their focus is meant to pressure political opponents.
In January 2024, Bavarian school principal Roland Feucht publicly urged people to join a demonstration for democracy and social diversity at his school. But his call had consequences. Several members of the AfD submitted a so-called Kleine Anfrage in the Bavarian state parliament, accusing Feucht and other school principals of violating the political neutrality required of those working for the state.
The Bavarian state government saw no reason to criticize Feucht's conduct, but Simone Fleischmann, chair of the Bavarian teachers' association, argued that the political consequences were significant: "Every one of those questions makes you, as a teacher, pause," she said. "As a teacher, it makes you wonder: Should I do this? Am I stepping into dangerous territory? Because that's what it is when I know I might be denounced."
There are increasing reports of alleged attempts by the AfD to use parliamentary questions to intimidate people. Refugee support workers, for example, said they had the feeling the AfD was "breathing down their necks." Across the country, researchers, associations, churches and parties are warning that the AfD is misusing its right to ask official questions to intimidate political opponents.
Kleine Anfragen — formal written questions submitted by members of parliament to both state and federal governments — are among Germany's most important democratic tools. They enable the opposition to monitor the government's work, and since the answers have to be made public, the inquiries force the executive branch to disclose data and facts related to its policies.
What is striking, however, is that the AfD is submitting ever more of them. Between March and October 2025 alone, the party submitted 525 such questions to the federal parliament, or Bundestag — more than two per day, and almost two-thirds of all parliamentary questions. The numbers are also skyrocketing on the state level.
The AfD submits a noticeably large number of inquiries in the state of Thuringia, one of the party's strongholds, where Björn Höcke, one of the party's most prominent politicians, heads its state parliamentary group. Höcke is considered one of the AfD's more radical voices, and has twice been convicted for using slogans connected with Adolf Hitler's SA. The AfD's Thuringia branch has been classified by German security authorities as "confirmed right-wing extremist."
Katharina König-Preuss, a Thuringian state parliamentarian of the socialist Left party, sees a strategy behind the flood of AfD questions. "Anyone who has ever spoken out against the AfD becomes the subject of a flood of questions," she told DW. "For one thing, they try to obtain the names and data of individuals and associations from civil society. That can lead to attacks on those individuals."
Some civil society groups are also feeling the consequences. The Amadeu Antonio Foundation in Berlin, which campaigns against racism and antisemitism and receives state funding, is openly critical of the AfD. According to spokesperson Lorenz Blumenthaler, the AfD has submitted numerous parliamentary questions concerning the organization, most focusing on its public funding. "They paint a picture of conspiracy between the government and the so-called 'deep state' — one in which the government and NGOs are supposedly working hand-in-hand on a shared political agenda," he said.
The most serious accusation was issued by Thuringia Interior Minister Georg Maier (SPD). In an interview with Handelsblatt in October 2025, he said there were indications that the AfD was misusing parliamentary questioning rights to benefit Russia. According to Maier, the AfD abuses these rights to deliberately probe German critical infrastructure. The AfD sharply rejects all espionage accusations and points to its democratic rights to hold the government accountable.
Source: www.dw.com