German Interior Minister Says Russian Drones and Pro-Moscow Politicians Threaten Freedom

“Freedom in Germany is threatened from outside by Russian drones in our skies and from within by politicians in our parliaments who ideologically play into Moscow’s hands,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.

His remarks followed the AfD’s victory in Sunday’s election to the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament. The right-wing populist party won 43.8% of the vote. It does not hold a majority, but it will seek to form a government by persuading individual lawmakers from other parties to support it. If successful, the AfD would form a state government for the first time in its history.

AfD politicians from the state parliament in Magdeburg have traveled to Russia in the past, including after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The party’s election posters in Saxony-Anhalt called for the reconstruction of the destroyed Nord Stream gas pipeline. The state branch has been classified as a right-wing extremist organization by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2023.

Dobrindt also said Russia was responsible for an August incident involving a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport. In response, the German government decided to close Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin. Russia is also suspected of involvement in several other acts of sabotage in Germany.

“

Freedom in Germany is threatened from outside by Russian drones in our skies and from within by politicians in our parliaments who ideologically play into Moscow’s hands.