New York Times: The far-right’s ties to Russia raise alarm bells in Germany

Attending a secret session in the German Bundestag requires lawmakers to turn off their phones and leave them outside, and inside the session they aren’t allowed to take notes.

However, many politicians see these espionage precautions as a farce, because those sitting next to them in these secret meetings are members of the far-right party Alternative for Germany.

Just in the past few months, a prominent AfD politician was accused of taking money from pro-Kremlin strategists, and links between an aide to a party lawmaker and a Russian intelligence agent were revealed.

Some state legislators also went to Moscow to monitor the fabricated Russian elections, according to the New York Times.

To know for certain that those sitting here, while discussing these sensitive issues, are lawmakers with confirmed links to Moscow, not only makes me uncomfortable, it worries me,” Erhard Grundl, a Green Party member of Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, told the New York Times.

The New York Times reported that security concerns are real, although some of the accusations against the Alternative for Germany party may be attempts by political rivals seeking to gain some points.

As evidence accumulated of links between the Alternative for Germany party and Moscow, suspicions spread among various political sectors in Germany.

“The AfD continues to act as the long arm of the Russian terrorist state,” Roderich Kiesewetter, deputy chairman of the Bundestag’s intelligence committee and a member of the center-right Christian Democrats, wrote on social media.

Since the beginning of Russia’s comprehensive invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Europe has had difficulty confronting Moscow’s influence operations, which aim to weaken the unity of the West.

Concerns extended beyond eavesdropping and espionage to include Moscow’s relations with political parties, especially the far-right.

These relationships have proven effective as useful tools for the Kremlin.

The New York Times said that anxiety is growing in Germany and other countries ahead of the European Parliament elections scheduled for next June, in which many parties are expected to do their best ever.

The New York Times added that the Alternative for Germany party, which opposes the supply of weapons to Ukraine and calls for an end to the sanctions imposed on Russia, isn’t only competing to become the second most powerful German party in the European Parliament elections, but is also preparing to become the leading force in the elections being held next fall in 3 eastern German states.

This would give the Alternative for Germany party the possibility of controlling state governments, although this is unlikely so far.

“This creates a new situation with regard to Russia, where people who carry out propaganda and pass on information can come to power,” Martina Renner, a member of the German Bundestag from the Left Party and chair of the Bundestag’s internal security committee, told the New York Times.

The New York Times reported that German lawmakers from across the political spectrum, including the ruling Social Democratic Party and the conservative Christian Democratic Party, have a long history of warm economic relations that has made them intertwined with Russian interests.

Some believe that this entanglement is one of the reasons why the German government didn’t take tougher measures against Russian secret operations, for fear of revealing how deep relations with Moscow had previously been.

But in the wake of the Ukraine war, key lawmakers expressed remorse and most severed those ties.

While many lawmakers from the Alternative for Germany party appear intent on deepening ties with Moscow, according to the New York Times.

On Friday, the Belgian authorities announced that they had begun investigations into the amounts allegedly received by European lawmakers.

Suspicions are hovering around Petr Bystron, a member of the German Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, who belongs to the Alternative for Germany party.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Bystron led AfD lawmakers in demanding to know why the German government didn’t seek the release of Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The AfD lawmakers describe Medvedchuk as “the most important Ukrainian opposition politician,” the New York Times reported.

Medvedchuk previously established a pro-Moscow political party in Ukraine, in addition to several pro-Kremlin television channels.

Medvedchuk was placed under house arrest in Kiev after the Russian invasion on charges of treason, then he was later released and sent to Russia in a prisoner exchange deal with Moscow.

Last month, Czech and Belgian authorities accused Medvedchuk of participating in a Russian “influence operation” through which money and cryptocurrencies were transferred via a media platform called “Voice of Europe” to politicians in at least 6 European countries in exchange for spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda.