Overview
- Alice Weidel publicly discouraged Russia trips, warned of internal consequences and tighter travel rules, and said she would not go herself.
- Tino Chrupalla defended contacts with Moscow on national TV, downplayed any current Russian threat to Germany and endorsed an "Entspannungspolitik," even suggesting Poland posed a danger.
- Despite internal pushback, Steffen Kotré traveled to Sochi with Jörg Urban and Hans Neuhoff, while Rainer Rothfuß canceled; a planned meeting with Dmitri Medvedev was vetoed by the AfD Bundestag group.
- AfD defense figures Rüdiger Lucassen and Hannes Gnauck rebuked Chrupalla’s stance, citing hostile Russian activities and stressing Poland’s status as a NATO partner.
- Fresh ARD/Infratest dimap data put CDU/CSU at 27% and AfD at 26%, show AfD potential near saturation at 28%, and find voters split on cooperation with the AfD—40% against, 30% case-by-case, 25% in favor.