AfD pro-Russia movement

Uncommon card · No. 190276

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) political party has been positioning itself for years in favour of close cooperation with Russia, while the European Union is viewed with skepticism or even hostility. As early as 2013, and before the Annexation of Crimea (2014), Alexander Gauland wrote a paper expressing understanding for Russia's desire to regain Crimea from Ukraine and comparing the loss of "holy Kyiv" to the loss of Cologne for Germany. He argued that Bismarck's Reinsurance Treaty should be a guideline: "Our relationship with Russia should always be worth carefully cultivating. We Germans sometimes forget that Russia played a positive role at key milestones in German history and saved Prussia from ruin." The German domestic secret service reported based on its findings that Russia is trying to destabilize the democratic system of Germany on many levels. According to the head of the service Thomas Haldenwang, Russian narratives are being spread by parts of the AfD and are contributing...

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