Germany’s former top intelligence official has issued a scathing warning: the country’s powerful surveillance agency has been hijacked to suppress political opposition—specifically, right-wing populist parties that threaten the left-wing establishment.

Hans-Georg Maaßen, who once led Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), is blowing the whistle on how the agency he ran is now being used as a political weapon to cripple the Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party. After AfD’s historic surge at the ballot box, the BfV labeled them a “right-wing extremist” group—a move that opens the door to mass surveillance, informant infiltration, and eventual political blacklisting.

Maaßen says the decision either came directly from Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, a leftist hardliner, or from the agency’s current chief, Thomas Haldenwang, who he accuses of operating on partisan motives. Either way, he argues, the BfV has abandoned its mission of protecting constitutional order in favor of carrying out a political hit job.

“When I led the BfV,” Maaßen told the European Conservative, “I was constantly under pressure from left-wing parties and the media to place the AfD under surveillance. I made it clear: I am not a tool of the governing parties.”

That line has clearly been crossed. Maaßen explained that intelligence agencies are supposed to remain above party politics—but that under Faeser’s leadership, they’ve become weapons of ideological enforcement. He calls it “a clear case of using domestic intelligence services to suppress opposition.”

The official justification for labeling the AfD an extremist group is laughably thin. According to a leaked BfV document obtained by Die Welt, the spy agency based its findings not on secret plots or criminal behavior—but on public statements by AfD politicians. Comments deemed “anti-Islamic,” “anti-immigrant,” or “anti-globalist” were treated as evidence of extremism, even when they referenced generic concepts like “financial elites” or “globalist influence.”

In one example, AfD leader Björn Höcke was accused of antisemitism for blasting “globalist masterminds” and “large American corporations” he claims control the German government. But he never mentioned Jews—something the BfV apparently didn’t care to clarify.

Maaßen, who is now sounding the alarm, says the damage to public trust in intelligence services may be irreversible. “An intelligence agency can only function effectively if it’s trusted—not just by the public, but also by those it relies on for information,” he said. “I genuinely don’t know how the BfV will recover from this crisis.”

The ex-spy chief also issued a warning for other countries. He says the same blueprint is being used across Europe—from France’s political persecution of Marine Le Pen, to Romania’s blocking of conservative leaders from running for office. The goal, he believes, is to stamp out right-wing populist movements before they reach critical mass.

“I fear that in any country where legal and political conditions permit,” Maaßen said, “secret services will be used to push conservative or right-wing parties out of public life and keep them away from power.”

This is how the globalist left fights when it can’t win elections. They’re willing to turn intelligence agencies into political bludgeons. And if it can happen in Germany, don’t think for a second it can’t happen here.