Overview
- AfD leader Tino Chrupalla said on ZDF that planned visits by party lawmakers to Sotschi were formally registered and approved and framed the outreach as part of a détente policy.
- Alice Weidel criticized the travel plans, threatened disciplinary action, and said Rainer Rothfuß dropped out after consultations while Steffen Kotré still intends to go.
- Chrupalla’s recent TV remarks that he sees no current Russian threat to Germany and that Vladimir Putin has done him no harm drew rebukes from AfD defense figures.
- Rüdiger Lucassen and Hannes Gnauck warned of documented Russian hostile activity in Europe and called Chrupalla’s arguments unrealistic for a party seeking governing credibility.
- The Sotschi meetings are tied to a BRICS‑plus event reportedly organized by the Europe Institute of Russia’s Academy of Sciences with organizers linked to United Russia, and the AfD co-leaders later issued a joint statement pledging to act together.