AfD and BSW: Close to Moscow

In eastern Germany, attitudes toward Russia have become part of the election battle. As voters in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania choose new state parliaments, the AfD and BSW are seeking support with positions presented as friendly toward Moscow.

Their approach appears to be working with at least some voters, even after the alleged attack attempt at Leipzig airport that the German government attributes to the Russian regime. Some people dismiss the threat and accuse the government of blaming Russia without evidence.

A strong sense of closeness to Russia still exists in parts of eastern Germany. Conversations often produce the argument that Germany should not provoke the large country, alongside the belief that eastern Germans have always understood Russia better than people in the west.

The Ostcast episode examines how that relationship developed during the Soviet era, how some people came to idealize it after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and what changed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Alice Bota and Michael Thumann also consider why parties use the issue in elections and whether sympathy for Vladimir Putin is specifically eastern German, or a warning of changes spreading through German society.