The Washington Post: How Putin “entered” German politics

Far-right parties “marry” to end German support for Ukraine

It has been said many times that Russia is “playing” abroad by influencing the outcome of elections. The newspaper revealed such a plan in Germany Washington Post Which speaks of the Kremlin’s creation of an anti-war coalition with the “marriage” of far-right and far-left factions.

As the American newspaper writes, about 13,000 demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate on February 25, demanding an end to arms shipments to Ukraine. The march was led by Zara Wagenknecht, a member of parliament for the Left Die Linke party.

“We don’t want Germany to get too deep in this war,” Wagenknecht explained from the assembly stage, while condemning the bloodshed in Ukraine but making no mention of the Russian invasion.

Wagenknecht “Best Adviser”

Among the crowds gathered in Berlin were Jürgen Elgser, 66, of the far-right magazine Compact and other members of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, who chanted for Wagenknecht calling for an end to the Gordian relationship with Ukraine. The aforementioned magazine even recently claimed, on its front page, that Wagenknecht would be Germany’s “best chancellor” as “the candidate of the left and the right”.

Politically opposing forces, the far left on one side and the far right on the other, have been gathering in Berlin under the banner of peace for months, although the union remains temporary and informal for the time being.

However, this marriage between the extremes of the German political spectrum is a goal of the Kremlin and has been discussed even by high-ranking officials in Moscow, as the Washington Post confirms, citing the content of 2022 Russian documents that were in the possession of a European intelligence agency but were not mentioned. her name.

Russian plan

According to their content, Kremlin officials asked other strategists in the Russian state apparatus to focus their efforts on Germany, with the ultimate goal of developing an “anti-war movement” that would act as leverage to moderate German and broader European support for Ukraine.

In this context, Sergei Kiriyenko, a senior Kremlin official, gathered a group of Russians on July 13 and informed them that Germany would become the “pivot” of Moscow’s efforts to undermine the support Ukraine receives from Europe.

EXCLUSIVE: Marrying Germany’s far right and far left is one of the goals of the Kremlin, according to a trove of Russian documents reviewed by The Washington Post. https://t.co/tzMqiwP7SA

– The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 21, 2023

The documents – the details of which have not been confirmed by other Western governments – reveal for the first time the Kremlin’s efforts to intervene directly in German politics, supporting far-left and far-right protests against the German government and seeking to create a new political alliance involving Die Linke’s Wagenknecht, far-left forces and the AfD. For extreme Germany.

The goal of this new political formation that Kremlin officials had in mind, according to a document dated September 9, is to win a “majority in elections at any level” in Germany.

The role of the AfD

In the same vein, the AfD could reform itself as the “Unity of Germany” party by raising its percentage above 13%. This “renewed” alternative could then publicly denounce Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine as against German interests.

The Russian side reportedly went so far as to write the manifesto that the “renewed” AfD would likely adopt. Specifically, in the aforementioned statement, drawn up by the Russians, it was stated: “Incompetent politicians, unable to calculate the consequences of their decisions, have drawn Germany into conflict with Russia – a natural ally of our country and people. Our interests require the restoration of normal relations with Russia. Today in Germany Only two parties: the party of Germany’s enemies and the party of its friends.

The Kremlin would like to be able to undermine Western unity by exploiting “peace movements” in the West, something that was done in the past under the Soviet Union. To achieve this, the Russians are said to have already started campaigns last year to spread “anti-war” slogans through social media.

And while none of the above has been confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt, it cannot be ignored that Wagenknecht, who sometimes clashed with Die Linke’s leadership, is already considering forming a new party, while popularity has recently been boosting.

Refutations and arguments

But she dismissed, in response to a related question from The Washington Post, the possibility of her cooperating with the AfD. He continued, even stressing that he was not in contact with anyone from the Russian side, nor with representatives of the Kremlin.

But Wagenknecht’s ex-husband, Ralf Niemeyer, who keeps channels open with the Russian leadership and has traveled to Russia in recent months, argues in The Washington Post that there are already people in Russia who would like to see the German far-right and Wagenknecht. to unite their forces politically.

However, the AfD, for its part, is said to always keep channels open with Moscow, which it supports and reproduces its positions, while dozens of its officials are said to have made luxury trips to Russia in the past years with all expenses paid.

Finally, the American newspaper bypasses the aforementioned comments, as well as the categorical denials of the Kremlin, and strikes the danger in Berlin and Brussels about Moscow’s plans on German soil, arguing that AfD officials have already begun to speak publicly in positive terms. Wagenknecht recently, teasing a potential collaboration with her and the brains behind it