---
title: "Berlin Prepares Ban on AfD Access to 1,000-Page Secret Military Plan for Countering Russia"
description: "Berlin is preparing a ban on AfD access to a 1,000-page secret military plan for repelling a possible Russian invasion. The party calls the decision \"absolutely undemocratic,\" while Merz's coalition cites the threat of a leak to Moscow."
date: 2026-09-22T21:16:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/berlin-bans-afd-access-1000-page-secret-military-plan-countering-russia
tags: [germany, afd, friedrich-merz, military-plan, saxony-anhalt, russia, nato, intelligence, democracy]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Berlin Prepares Ban on AfD Access to 1,000-Page Secret Military Plan for Countering Russia

![Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a session on restricting AfD access to the secret military plan](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/23/berlin-zapret-adn-dostup-sekretnyy-voennyi-plan-1000-stranic-otrazhenie-rf/berlin-zapret-adn-dostup-sekretnyy-voennyi-plan-1000-stranic-otrazhenie-rf-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Merz's federal government is preparing to restrict the AfD's access to a 1,000-page secret military plan developed by the Bundeswehr in 2024 to repel a possible Russian invasion.
- In addition to the "Oplan," the AfD is to be cut off from intelligence data on Russian tricks in Europe and from materials of investigations into far-right extremists in Saxony-Anhalt.
- AfD representative Jork Hermann called Berlin's intention "absolutely undemocratic" and accused the government of withholding information on the basis of "unproven accusations."
- The restrictions are also intended to reassure NATO allies, who are concerned about the AfD's rapprochement with Moscow after the party's victory in the Saxony-Anhalt elections on 7 September 2026.

The German federal government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is preparing a package of restrictions aimed at stripping the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) of access to key intelligence and military documents. According to The New York Times, the focus is on a secret operational plan ("Oplan") of roughly 1,000 pages, developed by the Bundeswehr back in 2024 to repel a possible invasion of the Russian Federation onto German territory. According to the publication, Merz's coalition government, led by the Christian Democratic Union, regards the AfD as an extremist structure and fears that the party could pass the document's contents on to Moscow. RBC-Ukraine was the first in the Russian-language segment to report on the preparation of the restrictions, citing the NYT publication.

### A thousand-page shield: what the "Oplan" is

According to The New York Times materials, the German military leadership completed in 2024 the development of a detailed operational plan designed for the scenario of a full-scale Russian invasion. The document runs to around 1,000 pages and contains detailed defense scenarios, logistics, coordination with NATO allies, and the use of intelligence data. Given that the AfD won the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on 7 September 2026, the question of which parties across the political spectrum can be trusted with access to such materials has shifted from theoretical to extremely practical. Chancellor Merz publicly called the voting result in Saxony-Anhalt a "serious shock for Germany" and warned that it could affect the course of support for Ukraine and Western policy as a whole.

### Exactly what will be closed off to the AfD

According to NYT information, the restrictions will affect not only the "Oplan." Plans are underway to block the AfD's access to intelligence data on Russian tricks and disinformation operations in Europe. At the same time, the party will retain the right to review intelligence information necessary for preventing terrorist attacks on German territory. In addition, the AfD is to be barred from viewing intelligence dossiers directly related to the party itself, and access to materials of investigations into the activities of far-right extremists in Saxony-Anhalt — a state under intensified federal oversight — will also be restricted. Thus, Berlin is building a multi-level filtering system: some data remains accessible, some is fully closed off.

### AfD reaction: "absolutely undemocratic"

An AfD representative, Jork Hermann, sharply criticized the federal government's intentions. His statement, quoted in the NYT article, reads: "It would be absolutely undemocratic and impossible to justify to voters to withhold intelligence information from a party on the basis of unfounded and unproven accusations." Hermann emphasizes that the AfD is a legitimate political force that won the elections in Saxony-Anhalt, and depriving it of access to information necessary for overseeing the executive branch violates the basic principles of parliamentary democracy. The party insists that the accusations of a "pro-Russian stance" are not backed by concrete evidence sufficient to apply such measures.

### A democratic shield or a political weapon?

As The New York Times notes, the preparation of the restrictions is intensifying the internal German debate over how to protect the post-war democratic system, originally designed after the defeat of Nazism to make it harder for extremist groups to seize power again. On the one hand, officials in Merz's coalition justify their actions as necessary to protect state secrets and to reassure NATO allies, who have expressed "deep concern" to Berlin about the AfD's rapprochement with Moscow. On the other hand, critics point out that an elected party, which has received a mandate from citizens, cannot be arbitrarily deprived of the right to access information without which parliamentary oversight is impossible. This balance between national security and democratic guarantees is becoming one of the most acute political questions in Germany at the present moment.

### Broader context: rearmament and pressure from allies

The decision to restrict the AfD's access to military documents fits into a broader context of unprecedented rearmament of the Federal Republic of Germany. As early as March 2025, the Bundestag approved a large-scale plan to modernize and expand the armed forces, which earned the nickname "bazooka" in German media — a reference to a similar American package. Against this backdrop, the secret 1,000-page "Oplan" becomes not merely an archival document but a working instrument of defense, access to which, by Berlin's logic, should be restricted as much as possible. Pressure from allies, concerned by the AfD's pro-Russian rhetoric, acts as an additional catalyst: Merz needs to demonstrate that Germany retains control over its defense policy and will not allow strategic data to leak into the hands of a political actor that Brussels and Washington consider a potential channel of Moscow's influence.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Berlin to restrict AfD access to 1,000-page secret plan for countering Russia](https://www.rbc.ua/ukr/news/berlin-obmezhit-dostup-adn-sekretnogo-planu-1790110727.html) - РБК-Украина передаёт информацию из NYT: план на 1000 страниц разработан в 2024 г., АдН победил в Саксонии-Анхальте 7 сентября, Геррманн назвал ограничение недемократичным, планируются дополнительные блокировки доступа к разведданным.
- [Now Merz can unholster the "bazooka": Germany approves giant rearmament plan and ...](https://www.rfi.fr/ru/%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B0/20250314-%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%8C-%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%86-%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B5%D1%82-%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%85%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8C-%D0%B1%D0%B0%D0%B7%D1%83%D0%BA%D1%83-%D0%B2-%D0%B3%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B8-%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%8F%D1%82-%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B9-%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B8-%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B0%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B8) - Контекстный источник: подтверждает масштаб перевооружения ФРГ в 2025 г. и роль Мерца в модернизации бундесвера. Использован для широкого контекста, не содержит прямых данных по «Оплану».

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: What is the 1,000-page "Oplan"?
**A:** It is a secret operational plan developed by the Bundeswehr in 2024 to repel a possible Russian invasion of German territory. The document runs to about 1,000 pages and contains defense, logistics, and coordination scenarios with allies.

### Q: Why does Berlin want to restrict the AfD's access to this plan?
**A:** Merz's government regards the AfD as an extremist structure and fears that the party could pass the contents of the secret document on to Moscow. An additional factor is the concern of NATO allies over the AfD's rapprochement with Russia.

### Q: How did the AfD react to these plans?
**A:** The party's representative Jork Hermann stated that withholding intelligence information from elected parliamentarians on the basis of "unfounded and unproven accusations" is "absolutely undemocratic" and cannot be justified to voters.

### Q: What other data will be closed off to the AfD?
**A:** In addition to the "Oplan," the AfD is to be blocked from access to intelligence data on Russian tricks in Europe, intelligence dossiers on the party itself, and materials of investigations into far-right extremists in Saxony-Anhalt. At the same time, access to information for preventing terrorist attacks will be retained.

### Q: When did the AfD win in Saxony-Anhalt?
**A:** The party's victory in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt was announced on 7 September 2026. Chancellor Merz called this result a "serious shock for Germany."