Germany's foreign office has defended its decision to classify the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party as right-wing extremists after strong criticism from the US vice president and foreign minister.

On Friday, US Vice President JD Vance accused the German bureaucracy of rebuilding the Berlin Wall. Likewise, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called AfD an extremist party. The AfD is the main supporter of Germany's coalition government.

In an unusual move, Germany's foreign office has responded directly to US Secretary of State Rubio via social media X . "We have learned from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be curbed," the office wrote. 

US Secretary of State Rubio has criticized the classification of the domestic intelligence agency that allows for increased surveillance of Germany's political parties. Later, Vice President Vance also criticized the move on social media platforms.

"Germany just gave its spy agency new powers to monitor the opposition," Rubio wrote in the State Department's official X-Handle.

Rubio, who was recently appointed as interim national security adviser, said the US ally must 'reverse course'. After more than three hours of questioning, the German Foreign Office withdrew.

This is democracy. This decision is the result of a thorough and independent investigation conducted to protect our Constitution and the rule of law. "The final decision will be made by independent courts," the office wrote, adding, "We have learned from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be curbed." AfD's popularity is highest in those states. But lately that identity has been extended to the whole party. 

AfD "aims to exclude certain population groups from equal participation in society," the organization  The statement said, "The party does not regard citizens of especially Muslim countries as equal members of the German people." The new classification would allow authorities to intercept phones and monitor the AfD through spies.

Party presidents Alice Wedel and Tino Chripalla said the decision was "clearly politically motivated and a serious blow to German democracy". Likewise, Beatrix von Storch, the party's parliamentary deputy leader, said that the accusations showed how "a totalitarian state and a dictatorship treat their parties".

AfD won second place in the federal elections last February. The party won 152 seats with 20.8 percent votes in the 630-member parliament. US Vice President Vance met Wedel in Munich 9 days before the election. He also used the platform of the Munich Security Conference to show support for the AfD.

At that time, Vance said that the bureaucracy was trying to destroy the party. The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt - not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,' he wrote on social network X .

The Berlin Wall, built in 1961, separated East and West Berlin for nearly 30 years during the Cold War. The new reclassification has renewed calls for the AfD to be banned ahead of a vote next week in parliament or the Bundestag to confirm conservative leader Friedrich Merz as chancellor. Merz will lead a coalition government with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).