![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/5v1mmMGjI5UTjYWxQv501OWH4HlBsCKFAaZiAGeH.bvl1.png\")
\n Photo. Photo. Olaf Kosinsky<\/p>\n
\n Photo. Photo. Olaf Kosinsky<\/p>\n
\u201dI do not currently see any danger to Germany from Russia,\u201d said German politician Tino Chrupalla on ZDF\u2019s talk show, while arguing that \u201ePoland can also be a danger.\u201d Chrupalla is the co-chair of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), which currently leads German polls with about 26% support, ahead of the ruling CDU\/CSU.<\/strong><\/p>\n The German politician has long been known for his pro-Russian and anti-Western views, having visited Russia several times in the past and openly opposing German support for Ukraine. His party is increasingly accused by German centrist politicians of promoting the Kremlin\u2019s interests inside the country, as they attempt to halt its electoral rise.<\/p>\n In a tense exchange with the presenter, Chrupalla also accused Poland of \u201edouble standards, the double morality\u201d for refusing to extradite a Ukrainian citizen suspected by German authorities of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022. He added that \u201ePoland\u2019s economic interests are different from Germany\u2019s, just like Russia\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite fierce criticism, Chrupalla defended his remarks the very next day on ZDF\u2019s morning programmeMorgenmagazin. He went even further, saying that his objective is \u201ea policy of d\u00e9tente, which we urgently need\u201d.<\/p>\n Chrupalla\u2019s words were taken to an even greater extreme by Fabian Keubel, an AfD member active on platform X. In a recent post, he insinuated that Poland \u201enot only committed the largest land theft in European history against Germany, but also the largest mass expulsion in human history,\u201d reflecting the alarming revisionist sentiments among the party\u2019s members.<\/p>\n The AfD, however, is becoming increasingly split over its stance toward Russia as the party attempts to soften its image and appeal to more centrist voters. For example, the defence policy spokesperson of the AfD parliamentary group, R\u00fcdiger Lucassen, criticised his colleague, saying that Russia \u201eshows no willingness to move towards peace\u201d and that theory on the Polish threat is \u201eabsurd\u201d.<\/p>\n Alice Weidel, who co-leads the AfD, also represents a markedly different position. She has criticised Russia for violating European airspace and condemned AfD members for travelling to Russia. Commenting on the latest remarks from Chrupalla, she said that the AfD \u201eshouldn\u2019t continue like this\u201d and \u201ecan\u2019t afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n The escalating rift between Weidel and Chrupalla could prove decisive for the future of the AfD\u2019s leadership and its stance toward Russia. Its outcome is especially important today, as the party has a real chance of entering government in future Bundestag elections and gaining a major influence on the shape of European-Russian relations.<\/p>\n Chrupalla\u2019s case shows that some German politicians still envision a return to the old business model with Russia and perceive Poland\u2019s opposition to such cooperation as a threat to German economic interests. Their views speak volumes about the enduring strength of Russian influence in Germany, even after nearly four years of war in Ukraine and amid an escalating hybrid conflict also directly affecting the country. This must inevitably raise questions about the transparency of these politicians\u00ab motives.<\/p>\n Such statements will not do any good for Polish-German relations, serving purely Russia\u2019s divisive objectives. Chrupalla\u2019s remarks quickly made headlines in Polish media, where they faced heavy criticism and fuelled anti-German sentiment. Moreover, they will certainly be exploited by Russian propaganda both internally and externally, fitting perfectly into its narrative of \u201ea warmongering Poland and a peaceful Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo. Photo. Olaf Kosinsky Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Copy link Send email \u201dI do not currently see any danger…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[2000,299,1824,92089,2821,770,332],"class_list":{"0":"post-572636","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-hybrid-war","12":"tag-nato","13":"tag-poland","14":"tag-russia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115555413440533168","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}