Leaked emails show AfD co-leader’s U-turn on ‘explosive’ nationalist colleague

Alice Weidel

Alice Weidel's political trajectory within the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is illuminated by a recent leak of internal communications, revealing a significant shift in her public and private positions. Early in her career, between 2015 and 2017, Weidel expressed profound concern over the party's association with extremist groups like Pegida and the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party, fearing it would alienate mainstream conservative voters in western Germany. She explicitly denounced Björn Höcke's rhetoric, calling his racial reasoning "deeply problematic" and warning that his use of Nazi-era terms like "Volksgemeinschaft" could lead to the party being monitored by Germany's domestic intelligence service.

Despite these strong private objections, Weidel's public stance evolved dramatically as she climbed the party's hierarchy. The leaked emails show her actively bringing a motion to expel Höcke in 2017, accusing him of using "vocabulary from Adolf Hitler" and endorsing the "Führerprinzip." However, as she prepared for her nomination as lead candidate for the 2017 federal election, she blocked the recording of her own motion in party minutes, citing potential damage to the party. Following Höcke's acknowledgment of a mistake, Weidel publicly welcomed his letter as a "positive signal" and called for an end to infighting, ultimately securing her nomination and campaigning alongside him.

Björn Höcke

Björn Höcke, the AfD leader in Thuringia, stands at the center of the controversy, representing the party's more radical nationalist wing. His statements, which include contrasting a "life-affirming African expansionary type" with a "self-negating European placeholder type," and describing Berlin's Holocaust memorial as a "memorial of shame," have consistently drawn accusations of racism and an affinity for National Socialist ideology. These remarks were the primary catalyst for Weidel's initial attempts to distance the party from him and even seek his expulsion.

Höcke's influence within the AfD is undeniable, despite the internal resistance he faced. His ability to remain a prominent figure, even after being targeted for expulsion by a future co-leader, underscores the deep ideological divisions and power struggles within the party. His eventual public acknowledgment that his controversial speech was a "mistake" appears to have been a strategic move that allowed for a reconciliation, at least publicly, with figures like Weidel, facilitating her rise and the party's outward presentation of unity.

Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Weidel's early concerns were not merely about public perception but also about the legal and surveillance implications for the AfD. She specifically warned that Höcke's statements and use of terms like "Volksgemeinschaft" were sufficient to bring the party under the scrutiny of Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the domestic intelligence service tasked with monitoring threats to the constitutional order. Her fear was that such rhetoric would lead to the AfD being classified as a right-wing extremist organization, granting authorities broader surveillance powers.

Indeed, in May 2025, the agency did classify the AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist organisation," citing, among other things, an exclusionary concept of the German nation. This classification, though provisionally suspended by a court in Cologne, validates Weidel's earlier warnings about the potential consequences of Höcke's extremist language. The leaked emails thus provide a historical context for the intelligence service's eventual decision, demonstrating that concerns about the party's extremist tendencies were present and articulated by its own leadership years prior.