Bangladesh, May 6 -- Tensions between Berlin and Washington have flared after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the German government of engaging in “tyranny in disguise” by labeling the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as extremist. In a pointed response, Germanys Foreign Ministry defended the decision as a necessary action to protect democracy and uphold the rule of law, dismissing Rubios remarks as “unfounded.”

Rubios criticisms, made on May 2, came in reaction to the German domestic intelligence agency (BfV) officially classifying the AfD as a “confirmed extremist entity.” According to the US Secretary of State, it is not the AfD that poses a danger to democratic values, but r...