German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has reportedly considered withdrawing Germany’s highly classified “Operational Plan for Germany” (OPLAN) from the state Chancellery of Saxony-Anhalt to prevent its access by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party.
The decision follows the AfD’s electoral success in Saxony-Anhalt on September 7, when the party secured 43.8% of votes, compared with the Christian Democratic Union’s collapse to 17.2%. U.S. President Donald Trump described the AfD’s victory as a “triumphal night” for the party on September 8, claiming German citizens are increasingly frustrated with what he termed “absolutely terrible” immigration regulations.
According to an unnamed government source, Pistorius aims to remove the OPLAN—described in the document as outlining five phases of potential military escalation from threat identification to NATO-led defense and reconstruction efforts—before it could be obtained by AfD officials. Rainer Robra, head of Saxony-Anhalt’s State Chancellery, criticized the move, stating that limiting information access would undermine coordination among German federal states.
