AfD trip to Russia: CSU speaks of treason

The planned trip to Russia by several AfD politicians has been met with harsh criticism. CSU Secretary General Martin Huber accuses the party of treason. "AfD MPs are traveling to Russia to talk to the Kremlin about the implementation of Russian interests. That is treason," he told the Handelsblatt newspaper.

The AfD has long been the "mouthpiece of Moscow", said Huber. "Anyone who allows their policies to be dictated by Putin's henchmen is not a patriot, but a puppet and a risk to our country."

CDU foreign policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter also reacted indignantly. Russia is a "terrorist state"; with their trip, the AfD politicians deliberately made themselves an instrument in the hybrid war against Germany and Europe. He told Handelsblatt that Russia was deliberately supporting the "establishment of Kremlin parties such as the AfD" in order to weaken German democracy.

Trip to the conference in Sochi

The specific issue is a planned trip by members of the Bundestag Steffen Kotré and Rainer Rothfuß, Saxony's AfD state leader Jörg Urban and MEP Hans Neuhoff to the conference of the so-called Brics states in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The AfD parliamentary group is behind the trip and, according to a spokesperson, is also covering the costs. The aim is to keep channels of communication open with Russia - similar to the existing contacts with US Republicans and those close to US President Donald Trump.

Kiesewetter considers it particularly problematic that the party leadership and parliamentary group leadership apparently supported the trip. He called for a review procedure as a precursor to a possible party ban. "However, I clearly see sufficient evidence for this," said Kiesewetter. Only the Federal Constitutional Court could decide on a concrete ban.