As cases proliferate, opponents fear the Alternative for Germany party is becoming a tool of Russian influence operations to undermine support for Ukraine.
To enter a secret session of Germany’s Parliament, lawmakers must lock their phones and leave them outside. Inside, they are not even allowed to take notes. Yet to many politicians, these precautions against espionage now feel like something of a farce.
Because seated alongside them in those classified meetings are members of the Alternative for Germany, the far-right party known by its German abbreviation, AfD.
In the past few months alone, a leading AfD politician was accused of taking money from pro-Kremlin strategists. One of the party’s parliamentary aides was exposed as having links to a Russian intelligence operative. And some of its state lawmakers flew to Moscow to observe Russia’s stage-managed elections.
Russia seems to have agents in far right govt organizations worldwide.
That’s the only way that shithole can stay relevant. What a sad excuse of a country.
I think countries should be more alarmed that they are as susceptible to Russian far right propaganda as they are. Inside all these seemly progressive and democratic countries lies large groups that want to subjugate minority citizens or those who think differently to the point they’d give up their own freedoms
Europeans are getting a serving of humility. When I was visiting Europe just after Trump was elected there was so much, “that could never happen here”. That kind of thinking is naive and dangerous
They got the drop on all of us, we weren’t expecting this. Now, though … they start to find out there’s a whole fucking shitload more of us, son.
And the myth they believe about the decadent west being soft and weak is just that, and the same myth that led the Japanese to think the US wouldn’t stick it out and do the bleeding necessary to annihilate them after Pearl Harbor.
Don’t let Russia distract you from the fact that the far-right has very strong domestic support, streaming from the wealthiest 1% as well.
It’s very useful to sow their ideology, the targets will have more polarization and Russia can always have an excuse for “denazifying special operations”