Secret services
Report: Moscow is said to have planned AfD strategy
Russia is said to have formulated a strategy paper for the AfD. photo
© Annette Riedl/dpa
AfD politicians are under pressure because of possible connections to Russia and China. Does Moscow influence the party’s course? The “Spiegel” reports on an alleged strategy paper.
In September 2022, a department head is said to have been given the order at a meeting by the influential deputy head of the Kremlin administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, to “develop a new concept for the Alternative for Germany party.” The aim is to increase the AfD’s poll numbers and achieve a majority in elections at all levels, according to the report, which cites a note from an unnamed Western secret service.
When asked, AfD leader Tino Chrupalla described the report as a “robber’s pistol”. He told the German Press Agency that he did not know this alleged paper. Other senior party members also said they were not aware of it.
A gloomy picture of Germany
The paper supposedly developed by the Kremlin reads “like a programmatic formulation aid for the AfD,” writes “Spiegel,” which claims to have it. It paints a dark picture of Germany. There is talk of deindustrialization and the migration of large companies from Germany. The German economy is dying.
The document also states: “Uneducated politicians who are unable to calculate the consequences of their decisions have drawn Germany into a conflict with Russia, a natural ally of our country and our people.”
“Government of failures”
The traffic light government is described as a “government of failures” that has destroyed the efforts of great predecessors such as Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Helmut Kohl. According to “Spiegel”, the Kremlin strategists derive the following principle from this: A German politician should not have values, ideals and obligations “that are above the interests of Germany and the obligations to the German people.”
Höcke: “The same is not the same.”
In terms of content, this is actually similar to what AfD politicians also advocate: Germany does not need a policy based on values, but rather an interest-driven policy, is what they demand. The word deindustrialization comes up again and again. Traffic light politicians are accused of being incompetent because they don’t have proper training. And Thuringia’s AfD leader Björn Höcke has spoken more than once about Russia as Germany’s natural partner. When asked by “Spiegel” about the alleged paper and the similarities, Höcke simply replied: “The same thing is not the same thing.”