The Munich Security Conference invites the ultra AfD party to the 2026 edition after JD Vance criticized its exclusion

The organization’s invitation to lawmakers from the ultra formation to participate in the high-profile security policy forum next year also comes after harsh criticism from the US vice president. JD Vance in the last edition due to his absence.

In an incendiary speech, Trump’s ‘number two’ ‘harassed’ European leaders in February, accusing them of limiting freedom of expression and urging them to accept “alternative points of view”, at the same time that he charged against the organizers of the conference for having “prohibited legislators who represent populist parties of the left and right from participating.”

“If you run for fear of your own voters, there is nothing the United States can do for you and there will be nothing they can do for the American people who elected me and President Trump,” stressed Vance, who also highlighted that Voters increasingly favor “political leaders who promise to end runaway immigration.”

Less than two weeks before the German elections, Vance charged, in a clear political interference, against the pact of the German center parties not to cooperate with the AfD: “There is no space for sanitary cords.”

Furthermore, the US vice president took advantage of his presence in Munich to meet with the co-leader of the AfD, Alice Weidel, after rejecting an offer to see the then chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

Vance’s ‘rout’ caused great discomfort among European leaders, especially in Germany, where nine days later the polls opened, leaving the extreme right as the main opposition party.

After this episode, the organizers of the Munich Security Conference have decided invite parliamentarians from all parties represented in the Bundestag to the 2026 editionin particular to the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense commissions.

A dozen AfD deputies sit on the Foreign Affairs Committee and another nine on the Defense Committee.

He AfDGermany’s largest opposition party, has mobilized voters with a radical anti-immigration agendawhile many of its members are seen as sympathizers of Russia.

In May, German intelligence described the populist party as far-right organization designation that sparked debate over whether the party should be banned. The classification has since been suspended pending a legal challenge.