Overview
- Invitations were sent before Christmas to politicians from all parties represented in the Bundestag, with priority for foreign and security policy experts.
- The decision was taken by Ischinger together with the conference’s foundation council after two years of excluding the AfD.
- AfD parliamentary leader Alice Weidel has not received an invitation so far, and organizers say the invitation process is still ongoing.
- Former chair Christoph Heusgen had barred the AfD and, last year, the BSW, citing their MPs walking out during Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Bundestag address.
- CSU Bundestag group leader Alexander Hoffmann criticized the reversal, citing AfD contacts with Russia and China as a security risk, while the 2026 MSC is scheduled for 13–15 February in Munich.