AfD national co-leader Alice Weidel sought to tamp down on party lawmakers\u2019 trips to Russia ahead of two state elections in western Germany earlier this year, calculating that overtly pro-Putin displays would not play well with voters in those states. But the planned attendance of relatively senior AfD politician Markus Frohnmaier at the forum in June suggests the party leadership may be shifting course ahead of two state elections in eastern Germany set for September.<\/p>\n
Voters in the former East Germany are more likely to favor closer ties to Russia, and the AfD is far ahead in polls in both states where elections will be held.<\/p>\n
Stefan Keuter, an AfD lawmaker authorized to approve party travel requests, said he would sign off on Frohnmaier and Kotr\u00e9 attending the forum.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitically speaking, there\u2019s absolutely no reason not to,\u201d Keuter said.<\/p>\n
Before Russia\u2019s 2014 annexation of Crimea, the annual forum in St. Petersburg \u2014\u00a0sometimes dubbed \u201cPutin\u2019s Davos\u201d<\/a> \u2014\u00a0 regularly<\/a> attracted German political heavyweights including Angela Merkel, who attended in 2013. But the forum is now shunned by mainstream European leaders.<\/p>\n