Overview
- Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the AfD "behaves like a German Putin‑party" and expressed understanding for espionage allegations.
- Dobrindt pointed to individual investigations involving AfD members or staff and said prosecutors must determine how deep any connections go.
- Thuringia’s Interior Minister Georg Maier alleged the party may have used parliamentary inquiries to scope critical infrastructure for Russia.
- Union parliamentary leader Jens Spahn said "Mr Putin would vote for AfD," calling it a Russia‑party and urging clarification.
- AfD co‑chair Tino Chrupalla dismissed the accusations as a "bodenlose Frechheit," demanded evidence, and in a ZDF interview opposed new U.S. sanctions on Russia.