Moscow accuses Berlin of suppressing the opposition

AfD trip to Russia

Moscow accuses Berlin of suppressing the opposition

Russian opposition figures are dead, in prison or in exile. Former Kremlin chief Medvedev is now worried about the opposition in Germany, which is being denied a trip to Russia.

Because of the fuss surrounding the planned trip of several AfD politicians to Russia, ex-Kremlin leader Dmitri Medvedev has accused the federal government of suppressing the opposition. “I think that the Alternative for Germany as a political force – and a very important one, by the way – is now being exposed to tremendous pressure in Germany,” Medvedev said, according to the state news agency Tass. The current government coalition “shit its pants” because of the AfD’s trip to Russia.

“Party comrade (Friedrich) Merz has decided that if they (the AfD MPs) go to Russia now, it would be very bad for his coalition,” said Medvedev, who is still influential in Russia as deputy head of the National Security Council. Therefore, the AfD was told that it was better not to go – and given its difficult situation, the party “had no other choice.” However, this is bad for German-Russian relations.

The trigger for his anger is the fuss surrounding the planned trip by AfD members of the Bundestag Steffen Kotré and Rainer Rothfuß to the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi for the “International Symposium in the Brics–Europe Format”. After anger within the party, Rothfuß canceled the trip. Kotré, on the other hand, according to media reports, has now landed in Russia together with the AfD politicians Jörg Urban and Hans Neuhoff.

Medvedev, who appears as a speaker in Sochi, is considered a hardliner in the circle of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. In Russia’s war against Ukraine, he called for the conquest of Odessa and the capital Kiev, and he threatened the West with nuclear strikes on several occasions – including against Berlin.