2024-05-03 19:45:00
An AfD politician repeatedly stands out for his Russia-friendly positions. He spread this not only in the Magdeburg parliament – but also through a newspaper in Moscow.
The Saxony-Anhalt AfD member of the state parliament, Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, has confirmed that he will regularly write a column for the Moscow newspaper “Vedomosti”. When asked, Tillschneider said his aim was to help improve German-Russian relations. The “Mitteldeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported on it.
Tillschneider is deputy state chairman of the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt as well as deputy parliamentary group leader and regularly stands out in parliament for his Russia-friendly positions. In March, in the state parliament, he praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for “pulling the cart out of the mud in Russia.” “He ensured stability and prosperity in Russia. That’s why a majority of Russians support him,” said Tillschneider.
In October 2022, the AfD politician claimed: “We don’t have a Russian-Ukrainian war, we have a war between the USA and Russia on Ukrainian soil.”
“We were doing well when we had a good relationship with Russia”
This positioning came shortly after a trip to Russia by several AfD politicians in autumn 2022, in which Tillschneider took part. The trip was canceled after criticism. The state parliament expressed its disapproval and viewed the trip as an “act of lack of solidarity” against Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia in violation of international law.
When asked, Tillschneider said that he had been writing the guest articles since the beginning of 2023 and that he did not receive any compensation. He wanted to show in Russia that there are still politicians in Germany who think differently than, for example, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) or FDP MP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. “History teaches us: we did well when we had a good relationship with Russia,” explained Tillschneider.
The Foreign Office warns on its website that arbitrary imposition of long prison sentences for public statements critical of the government continues to occur in Russia. “Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, press and media freedom in the Russian Federation has been extremely restricted, particularly due to new censorship laws.”