{"id":3322,"date":"2026-06-30T07:08:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=3322"},"modified":"2026-06-30T07:08:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T07:08:35","slug":"afd-leader-vows-to-restore-german-russian-ties-as-she-eyes-chancellery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=3322","title":{"rendered":"AfD leader vows to restore German-Russian ties as she eyes chancellery"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><ul><li>Summary<\/li><li>Companies<\/li><\/ul><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div>BERLIN, June 30 (Reuters) &#8211; Germany should end a boycott of Russian oil and gas to bolster its flagging economy, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, told Reuters as she \u200boutlined the party&#8217;s ambitions to lead a national government.<\/div><div>Weidel said the AfD can win two key federal state elections in the coming months, describing \u200cthem as milestones to securing the post of German chancellor as soon as the next national elections due by 2029.<\/div><div>&#8220;Cheap energy from Russia was the secret of the success of &#8216;Made in Germany&#8217;. We need it back,&#8221; Weidel said.<\/div><div>&#8220;The loss of this energy has set us back years. Hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost. It has made us dependent on the United States, which sells \u200bus energy at far higher prices.&#8221;<\/div><h2>SEES ELECTIONS AS &#8216;DECISIVE MILESTONES&#8217;<\/h2><div>Before the sanctions imposed over Moscow&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia supplied more than a third of Germany&#8217;s \u200bcrude oil imports and more than half of its natural gas.<\/div><div>Germany has also struggled to recover from the shock caused by \u2060the shutdown of the key undersea Nord Stream pipeline, which was crippled by explosions in September 2022.<\/div><div>The country&#8217;s industry, rattled by a spike in energy costs that followed, remains \u200bin the doldrums. Adding to the gloom, car giant Volkswagen is considering cutting as many as 100,000 jobs.<\/div><div>Weidel&#8217;s comments highlight the potential fragility of the Western alliance underpinning support for \u200bUkraine. Although Germany&#8217;s current government backs Ukraine, the population is more divided.<\/div><div>Weidel made the remarks ahead of September elections in two key eastern German states, Saxony\u2011Anhalt and Mecklenburg\u2011Vorpommern, where the AfD is dominating polls.<\/div><div>Should the AfD win control, this would see those regional governments challenge Berlin&#8217;s policy on migration, which they say is too generous, rejecting the financial burden on local governments.<\/div><div>It would upend the consensus \u200bmodel of committee-style government in Germany and potentially give the AfD a stepping stone to national rule.<\/div><div>&#8220;Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg\u2011Vorpommern are decisive milestones,&#8221; Weidel said.<\/div><div>&#8220;If we win in Saxony-Anhalt, \u200bthen Mecklenburg\u2011Vorpommern will probably follow. I can see the AfD in the chancellery either by the next elections or the ones after.&#8221;<\/div><div>For mainstream political parties such as Chancellor Friedrich Merz&#8217;s Christian Democrats, \u200cwhich have \u2060rejected cooperation with the AfD, a victory by the far-right party in Saxony-Anhalt would deal a blow to the so-called firewall of coalitions to block the AfD from power.<\/div><div>Energy costs and the prospect of cheaper Russian energy could win over voters.<\/div><div>Germany&#8217;s relationship with Russia carries more weight in the east, which was under Soviet rule until the fall of the Berlin Wall more than 35 years ago. Many there take a sympathetic stance towards Russia and a critical view of Germany&#8217;s military protector, the United States.<\/div><h2>&#8216;WE WILL \u200bNOT TURN EVERYTHING ON ITS HEAD&#8217;<\/h2><div>Weidel&#8217;s comments \u200bon Russia follow a visit earlier this \u2060month by senior AfD lawmaker Markus Frohnmaier to Russia. He met Alexei Miller, the head of Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM)<svg><\/svg><span>, opens new tab<\/span>, and called for a reopening of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.<\/div><div>Frohnmaier rebuffed criticism of his trip, saying he understood that U.S. investors were examining \u200breopening the Nord Stream route to Germany, a move that could see Germany pay a fee to draw Russian gas.<\/div><div>&#8220;We have \u200bto be careful in \u2060Germany that we don&#8217;t miss the window of opportunity to get back into the Russian market,&#8221; he told Reuters. &#8220;Mr Miller said it would take a three-month timeframe for the gas supply to be resumed.&#8221;<\/div><div>Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of parliament from Merz&#8217;s Christian Democrats, said the AfD&#8217;s pro-Russian stance was distorting the public debate in Germany.<\/div><div>&#8220;The romanticisation of Russia is being used \u2060by the \u200bAfD, in particular with an eye on the upcoming elections in eastern Germany,&#8221; Kiesewetter said.<\/div><div>Weidel dismissed accusations \u200bthat her party was extremist, as it was classified by Germany&#8217;s spy agency last year.<\/div><div>&#8220;The way we see ourselves and the way our political rivals judge us, are miles apart,&#8221; she said. &#8220;People describe us as far-right. In \u200btruth, we are a party for the regular person. We will not turn everything on its head if we get into power.&#8221;<\/div><div><address><div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"120\" height=\"120\" alt=\"John O'Donnell\" class=\"wp-image-2121\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ddd1496930701845f70de37f7923c3c4.avif\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><div>John O&#8217;Donnell<\/div><\/div><div><ul><li><span><div><svg><title>Email<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>X<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><li><span><div><svg><title>Linkedin<\/title><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/address><\/div><\/div><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=3320\">Asian stocks set for record-breaking quarter; dollar sinks gold and yen<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=3318\">UK\u2019s long-awaited defence plan allocates \u00a35 billion to drones<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=3316\">Families of Venezuelans deported from the US and lost in hotel collapse search for loved ones, and for answers<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Germany should end a boycott of Russian oil and gas to bolster its flagging economy, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, told Reuters as she \u200boutlined the party&#8217;s ambitions to lead a national government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[53,10],"class_list":["post-3322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-gas","tag-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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