When Germany’s domestic intelligence service (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV) formally designated the far‑right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) a “confirmed extremist endeavour” on 2 May 2025, most headlines focused on the political shockwave. Less publicised was what investigators say they found behind the party’s electoral façade: an estimated 2,500 hard‑core activists who possess military training, access to firearms and, in several cases, Cold‑War‑era stay‑behind credentials. The figure comes from annexes to the 1,100‑page assessment leaked this month by Cicero and later quoted by Welt and other outlets.

A Kinetic Cadre Inside a Political Movement

According to the BfV, roughly one in ten AfD members identified as “violence‑oriented” have completed Bundeswehr or police courses, private security programmes or paramilitary “prepper” drills. A subset retains legal firearms licences, in many cases justified by sport‑shooting or reservist status. Investigators link the group to the wider right‑wing milieu documented in the federal 2023 Verfassungsschutz report, which counts about 2,500 violence‑prone extremists inside broader sovereign‑citizen and nationalist networks.

Echoes of the Gladio Years

Particularly alarming for Berlin is the discovery that “low double‑digit” AfD militants once served in NATO’s clandestine stay‑behind structures—secret cells created during the Cold War to resist a Soviet invasion. In Germany the programme was dissolved in the early 1990s, but veterans retained weapons knowledge, safe‑house contacts and a culture of compartmentalisation. Security officials told parliament’s oversight committee that these ex‑operatives now act as instructors, running weekend courses on small‑unit tactics and clandestine communications.

A Constellation of Armed Sub‑Groups

**Reservist circles*– WhatsApp and Telegram groups with former Bundeswehr soldiers exchange firing‑range invitations and ammunition.

**Hunting‑club overlaps*– In rural Saxony and Thuringia, AfD county councillors double as board members of shooting associations, giving militants legal cover to store rifles.

**“Tag‑X” preppers*– Some activists belong to successor cells of the disbanded “Hannibal” network, stockpiling medical kits and encrypted radios for an anticipated civil‑war scenario.

Political and Legal Fallout

The intelligence findings bolster the BfV’s decision to elevate the AfD’s status, a step that enables surveillance, wire‑taps and the recruitment of informants across Germany’s largest opposition party. Federal and state prosecutors are already reviewing whether individual AfD district branches meet the threshold for criminal conspiracies or terrorist organisations—an approach likely to be faster than an uncertain party‑ban procedure.

AfD Response

Party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla denounce the report as “fabricated state propaganda”, insisting that any armed extremists “have long since left or were never members”. Yet former AfD spokesman Christian Lüth, now a whistle‑blower, acknowledged in a television interview that “ex‑soldiers and reservists have always been welcomed because they know how to handle themselves”.

Why the 2,500 Figure Matters

Germany has roughly 14,000 violence‑oriented right‑wing extremists, but concentrating 2,500 of them inside or next to a single parliamentary party gives that group unrivalled logistical reach—from parliamentary immunity for aides who transport equipment to early knowledge of police operations. Some security officials warn that the mix of insider access and paramilitary capability resembles Italy’s Ordine Nuovo in the 1970s.

Next Steps

**Firearms audits*– Interior ministers plan nationwide checks on gun‑licence holders who appear in the BfV annexes.

**Reservist screening*– The Military Counter‑Intelligence Service (MAD) will revisit background files of 1,200 AfD‑linked reservists.

**Legislative action*– A cross‑party bill would bar individuals under extremism investigation from owning semi‑automatic weapons.