BERLIN — Dozens of politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party will travel to Washington in December at the invitation of a group of House Republicans, said U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

The invitation to AfD politicians comes at a time when German far-right figures are increasingly looking for support from MAGA Republicans in the U.S. for what they frame as a struggle against political persecution and censorship at home.

“It’s 40 members that we’re hosting from the AfD,” Luna said in an interview with Welt, which is a sister publication of POLITICO in the Axel Springer Group. “And it’s not just going to be me, it’s going to be other members of Congress as well.”

A spokesperson for the AfD said he could “neither confirm nor deny” whether that number of the party’s politicians is in fact set to travel to the U.S. next month. The spokesperson of the AfD’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag said the number of federal lawmakers traveling to the U.S. capital would not be that high.

Luna has taken an active interest in German far-right figures’ claims that they are being persecuted in Germany for their views, recently telling POLITICO that “the German government’s recent actions against its own citizens resemble the authoritarianism of the Soviet Union prior to its fall more than Russia does today.”

Some Trump administration officials have also spoken out in support of the AfD.

When Germany’s federal domestic intelligence agency declared the AfD to be an extremist organization earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the move “tyranny in disguise.” During the Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President JD Vance urged European mainstream politicians to knock down the “firewalls” that shut out far-right parties from government.

Germany’s postwar constitution allows domestic intelligence agencies to surveil political parties, actors and organizations deemed extremist — and to make it theoretically possible to ban such parties. These restrictions were intended by the drafters of the West German constitution to prevent a repeat of the Nazi rise to power, when anti-democratic forces were able to subvert democracy from within.

AfD leaders see the invitation to Washington as an opportunity to win more legitimacy domestically for their claims of persecution. Luna invited AfD co-leader Alice Weidel to Washington at the end of last month via a post on X. Weidel reacted postively and said she would reach out to discuss further arrangements.

Luna also recently met with Naomi Seibt, a right-wing influencer and AfD ally, who recently said she had applied for asylum in the U.S., claiming to be the target of  “severe government and intelligence surveillance and harassment” for her political views and defense of free speech in Germany.

“I think that she [Seibt] is a great young woman, and I do think that she has a promising future whatever she decides to do, and so we’ll be fully backing her,” Luna told Welt.

“I’m actually not just going to be helping her, but I’m going to be helping others like her,” Luna said. “I do hope that maybe this at least provides some open dialogue on how the German government — specifically the politicians, law enforcement — treat their own citizens even if they don’t agree with them.”

The trip to Washington by AfD members in December is to be followed by a larger-scale conference early next year, Luna said, something that “will counter Davos” and be more focused on “the sovereignty of nations.”

Julius Brinkmann contributed to this report from Washington.