According to reports, the Kremlin supported both far-left and far-right protests against the German government in addition to attempting to forge a new alliance between Germany’s far-left Die Linke party and far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
The Washington Post reviewed documents that were seized by a European spy agency. It has come to light that the Kremlin is attempting to bring the political opposites of the German left and right together to form an “anti-war” coalition.
Moscow wants to undermine German pro-war sentiment and erode support for Ukraine. Die Linke and the AfD have both historically had pro-Russian positions. According to reports, the Kremlin has sent several extremists on all-expenses-paid excursions to Russia.
According to the stolen Kremlin papers, political strategists for the AfD created a manifesto that called for the party to become the party of “German unity” and declared sanctions against Russia to be against German interests.
INFLUENCE STRATEGY
The Washington Post further said that it was revealed in the released records that in July of an undisclosed year, Vladimir Putin and the deputy head of his administration called a group of political strategists to the Kremlin. They gave the strategists the mission of smearing the European Union, the United States, Britain, and NATO in Germany while persuading Germans that sanctions placed on Russia were harming them.
In three months, Putin wanted to increase the proportion of Germans who supported bettering ties with Russia by 10%.
After struggling with their mission, the Russian political strategists swiftly teamed up with Russian troll farms to develop catchphrases for German social media and protests. There was a picture of “Uncle Sam” and the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sitting on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, which runs between Germany and Russia, waving the Ukrainian flag and declaring, “I don’t care what the Germans think.”
To use the rallies to forward their cause, Russian political strategists also gathered information about upcoming protests across Germany. According to the records, they may have started some demonstrations, including those organized by the extreme left and far right.
The demonstrators frequently carry signs calling for the immediate start of Nord Stream 2, the relaxation of anti-Russian sanctions, and cheaper electricity costs, among other things.
Additionally, according to The Washington Post, the records provided proof of the AfD party’s connections to Russian interests. A significant portion of the AfD is behind Putin because of his role in the fight against Western liberalism.
The Russian Peace Foundation, which has close ties to the Kremlin, as well as other Russian groups have covered the costs of AfD parliamentarians’ numerous trips to Moscow.
In one email, a representative of Russia referred to Markus Frohnmaier, an AfD member, as “our own absolutely controlled MP in the Bundestag.”
The proposed partnership between the far-left Die Linke and the far-right AfD has not yet taken place, despite the worries raised by the stolen documents. For fear of losing support from the left, Wagenknecht, a former leader of Die Linke, has not yet made a public effort to create an alliance with the far right.
Indications of a covert front in Russia’s conflict with Ukraine can be found in the Kremlin’s attempts to incite antiwar sentiment in Germany. The disclosure of the documents has caused Western governments to express worry over the possibility of Russian meddling in German politics as well as those of other Western nations.
