Leader of far-right AfD suggests Poland as great a threat to Germany as Russia

The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the second-largest party in Germany’s parliament, has suggested that Poland is as much of a threat to his country as Russia is.

In an appearance on public broadcaster ZDF, Tino Chrupalla was asked by host Markus Lanz about previous comments in which he had said, “I firmly believe that Russia is no threat to us”.

AfD, like many far-right groups in Europe, has been accused of sympathy towards and even links to Russia.

In response, Chrupalla, who leads AfD alongside Alice Weidel, confirmed that he “does not see any current threat to Germany from Russia”. Pressed by Lanz about, for example, Russia’s hybrid actions against European states, Chrupalla responded that “any country can be a threat to Germany”.

“Take Poland – of course, Poland could also be a threat to us,” he continued, pointing to the recent decision “not to extradite a wanted criminal, a terrorist to Germany”. Last month, a Polish court refused to extradite to Germany a Ukrainian man accused of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

“You’re saying Poland is potentially as dangerous for Germany as Russia?” asked Lanz, to which Chrupalla replied: “In this case, we can see it. Poland’s economic interests differ from Germany’s – just like Russia’s.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, the far-right leader also sought to provide “context” for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 by arguing that the conflict actually began as a “civil war” in 2014, when “opposition figures were persecuted in Ukraine [and] the language of the Russian-speaking minority was targeted”.

Chrupalla’s comments, including those about Poland being a threat to Germany, were quickly condemned by Roderich Kiesewetter, a politician from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), part of Germany’s ruling coalition, who had been criticised by Chrupalla.

“Tino Chrupalla’s statements have shown where the AfD stands: it is a Putin club that would rather submit to a dictator than defend European and thus also German freedom,” Kiesewetter told Frankfurter Rundschau.

In May 2023, Chrupalla received criticism for attending a reception at the Russian embassy in Berlin for an event marking Russia’s celebration of Victory Day.

He has also rejected claims that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal and last year refused, along with Weidel and other AfD figures, to attend a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the German parliament.

In Germany’s parliamentary elections earlier this year, AfD emerged as the second-largest party, winning almost 21% of the vote. However, it was left in opposition after the CDU and Social Democratic Party (SPD) formed a coalition government.

Last year, after elections to the European Parliament, half of MEPs from Poland’s far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) party agreed to join the new European of Sovereign Nations group created by AfD.

However, other Confederation MEPs said they refused to align with the AfD given “the statements of some members of the group, which are directly contrary to the Polish national interest”.

Previous statements by leading AfD figures downplaying Nazi crimes have provoked anger in Poland. In 2020, when the German parliament approved plans for a memorial in Berlin to Polish victims of World War Two, AfD was the only party not to vote in favour, instead abstaining.