Despite an apparent ideological divide, both the AfD and the BSW have capitalized on anti-establishment sentiment with their overlapping Russia-sympathetic positions, opposing military aid to Ukraine and favoring closer ties with Moscow.
Traditionally, the MSC — known informally as “Davos with guns” — has welcomed all parties represented in the Bundestag. But since taking over in 2023, Heusgen has broken with that norm — first by barring AfD politicians, and now extending the snub to Wagenknecht’s party.
The move adds fuel to an already polarized election campaign, where the AfD is performing strongly in recent polls and Wagenknecht is drawing disillusioned voters in former East Germany.
Both parties boycotted Zelenskyy’s speech to protest Berlin’s support for Ukraine. AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla dismissed the address as “a platform for reconstruction begging,” while BSW accused the Ukrainian president of fueling “a highly dangerous escalation spiral.”
But for Heusgen, the issue runs deeper than a single protest. Parts of the AfD are classified as right-wing extremists by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency — a designation that disqualifies it from mainstream democratic platforms, he said.
“Inviting AfD politicians would go against the spirit of our conference founder, Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist,” Heusgen noted, referring to the German officer involved in a failed 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler.
While both populist parties are sidelined, key players from Germany’s political mainstream will attend the MSC from Feb. 14 to 16, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, opposition leader Friedrich Merz, Free Democratic Party (FDP) leader Christian Lindner and Economy Minister Robert Habeck. Even the left-populist Die Linke, a party historically critical of NATO, remains on the guest list.
