Overview
- Alexander Hoffmann, who leads the CSU's Bundestag group, urged organizers to keep the AfD out, arguing its contacts with Russia and China could expose sensitive information.
- Wolfgang Ischinger is expected to decide early next year on whether to invite the AfD, with Jens Stoltenberg unavailable to chair in person.
- Former chair Christoph Heusgen had already excluded the AfD and the BSW after lawmakers from both groups walked out during Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Bundestag address.
- Last year's exclusion angered the U.S. government, and Vice President JD Vance condemned the move at the conference before meeting AfD leader Alice Weidel off-site.
- Hoffmann said he hopes Washington will accept a renewed exclusion if the security case is explained, as the 2026 conference is set for 13–15 February at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof.