Pro-Russian AfD Leader Vows to Put Nord Stream Back in Operation

Federal elections will be held in Germany on Feb. 23. In preparation for these elections, the Pro-Russian radical right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is having its federal party congress. On Saturday the congress started later due to protests.

At the congress, AfD party leader Alice Weidel accepted her nomination to run for Chancellor.

Weidel stated during her speech that the AfD wants to put Nord Stream back in operation.

Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were built to transport Russian gas to Europe. In September 2022 the Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged. After investigations, German authorities suspect three persons with an Ukrainian nationality to be involved in the attack.

In June 2024 German prosecutors issued a warrant for the arrest of Ukrainian diving instructor referred to in the media as Volodymyr Z.

AfD leader Weidel blames Ukraine for the sabotage of Nord Stream and stated that Ukraine should compensate Germany for the damages. Ukrainian authorities deny that they were involved in the Nord Stream sabotage. Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak stated that Russia itself had motives to sabotage the pipeline.

Putting Nord Stream back in operation aligns with AfD’s foreign policy; the AfD wants to lift the sanctions on and deepen economic cooperation with Russia.

AfD is not supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia. Last June AfD boycotted Zelensky’s speech at the German parliament. AfD’s Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla described Zelensky in their statement as “a begging war president.” The AfD leader Weidel has opposed supplying arms to Ukraine. 

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Latest poll: AfD second largest party

The AfD is on the rise in the recent polls. According to the latest INSA poll, the AfD will be the second party of Germany with 22% of the votes. During the last elections in 2021 the AfD received 10.3% of the votes. The Christian Democratic party CSU/CSU, which is supportive of the Ukrainian cause, is predicted to be the largest party with 30%.

AfD’s increased popularity can be partly attributed to Elon Musk. Elon Musk has been advocating on his X platform that “only the AfD can save Germany.” Furthermore, Musk gave Alice Weidel a massive stage on Thursday Jan. 9 the big stage by interviewing her live on X.