Germany’s AfD and Moscow: Spiegel

Governments and researchers try to figure out the appeal of far-right populism and extreme views that resist compromise and cooperation, immigration, education, climate change mitigation and more. It turns out, for Germany, Russia is behind propaganda that has made Alternative for Germany the biggest opposition party in Germanany's Bundestag. Russia's goal: to fracture and weaken the West and its longstanding alliances. “The AfD, which was founded six years ago as a euro-skeptic party, has proved to be a stroke of luck for Putin,” explains Spiegel Online. “Putin wants to break the West's power by driving a wedge through it. The AfD and the Kremlin also share a pronounced anti-American stance, as well as a disdain for modern values and marriage equality for same-sex couples.” Spiegel describes AfD politicians as “Putin’s pawns.” The Dossier Centre in London has compiled emails, action plans and other documents showing influence. The writers expect Russia to try and influence the European Parliament elections through protests, social media posts and more to encourage votes for “useful idiots” who support Putin and disparage the European Union. Germany is the world’s fourth largest economy while Russia ranks 12th. Russia’s leaders try to nurture resentment and disrupt politics so their authoritarian govenrment looks slightly less worse by comparison. – YaleGlobal