Members of parliament attended the BRICS-Europe meeting.
Members of parliament attended the BRICS-Europe meeting.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) participated in the “BRICS–Europe” symposium held in Sochi from 13 to 17 November.
The presence of the AfD’s European Parliament member Hans Neuhoff, MP Steffen Kotré, and chairperson of Saxony Jörg Urban, triggered a debate in Germany. How on earth could a political party of Germany attend “full-scaled aggressor” Putin’s meeting?
AfD politicians delivered speeches criticizing Berlin’s economic and energy policies and stressed that the sanctions on Russia have inflicted heavy damage on Germany.
In his remarks, MP Steffen Kotré argued that the energy sanctions against Russia hurt Germany’s own economy and should be lifted. Kotré insisted that Germany needs to return to “reliable energy sources.”
Jörg Urban, AfD’s chairman in Saxony, also criticized Germany’s economic policies. “The decision to abandon Russian energy sources has pushed energy prices to such extremes that many Saxon companies are either shutting down or moving abroad,” he said. Urban’s call for a normalization of relations between Germany and Russia received applause from the hall.
Russia’s Security Council Deputy Chairman and former President Dmitry Medvedev also spoke in the symposium. Medvedev said AfD politicians face heavy pressure in Germany and criticized the German government for “cracking down on the AfD.”
UWI author, historian and political scientist Associate Professor Mehmet Perinçek shared with us his evaluation on the AfD politicians’ participation in the “BRICS–Europe” symposium in Russia.
A bold step
Perinçek sees the AfD delegation’s move as “a brave step and precisely what Germany needs for its own national interest.”
Highlighting Germany’s economic, energy, and social crises, he said:
“Germany is facing economic, energy, social and political crises because of a series of wrong policy choices. The only way out is to stop doing whatever the warmongering governments tell you to do, and do exactly what they tell you not to do. In that sense, the AfD’s decision to join the meeting in Russia, and their broader policy of cooperating with the Eurasian bloc including also China and India, could actually offer a remedy to the problems of Germany.”
Pointing to Europe’s “growing militarization” and “sense of hysteria”, Perinçek added, in fact, that the AfD’s move is entirely natural: “Joining this meeting may look like a bold step at a time when Europe is arming itself to the teeth and war agitation is at its peak, but in reality, nothing could be more natural or more necessary in terms of Germany’s needs”.
Not a favor to Russia
Perinçek stressed that the AfD’s stance is not a “favor” to Russia, but for Germany’s own national interests: “Germany can overcome its economic and energy problems only by freeing itself from the Atlantic line and cooperating with countries from Russia and China to Türkiye and India. By attending this meeting, and with the statements they made afterward, the AfD clearly reflected this position. And most importantly, this position isn’t a gesture to Russia nor a sign of bowing to Russian policies, but is for Germany itself in the first place.”
“Germany for Germany”
Perinçek said the course of events is dictated is also by global economic trends:
“Those who say ‘Germany for Germany, Europe for Europe’ will ultimately have to move in step with the countries where the world economy is drifting towards: Russia, China, India, Türkiye and so on. Sooner or later, this will happen. And there is no force capable of stopping this tide. A Germany that cooperates with China and India wouldn’t be serving Russian, Chinese or Indian interests, it would be acting in line with its own. The sooner this line gains ground in Germany, shapes the mainstream and ultimately comes to power, the lower the cost will be for Germany and for the world.”
Buying Nord Stream gas from the US?
Perinçek also touched on Washington’s possible maneuvers and its consequences for Germany:
“Trump’s government is once again floating solutions and hinting that they might pull back from Zelenskyy. In this scenario, if Germany keeps moving with a warmongering mindset, it could end up in a situation where the US sells gas to Germany through Nord Stream.”
He went on to lay out more detail, warning that Germany could be excluded from its own project:
“Germany has already abandoned Nord Stream 2 even though it needs it. In that case, instead of Berlin restoring direct energy ties with Moscow, Trump could reopen Nord Stream, buy gas from Russia himself, sell it to Germany, and pocket the margin in between. So, Germany could find itself watching the US profit from a project it originally launched.”