The Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Friday rejected allegations of “treason” over plans for several of the far-right party’s lawmakers to visit Russia next week.
The trip has attracted severe criticism from conservative German politicians due to Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Martin Huber, general secretary of the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU), called the move “treason” and described the party as “Moscow’s mouthpiece.”
“Anyone who allows Putin’s henchmen to dictate their policies is not a patriot, but a puppet and a risk to our country,” he added in comments to the Handelsblatt business newspaper.
But senior AfD figure Bernd Baumann compared the situation to visits by German conservative politicians to Moscow in 1987, during the Soviet Union’s war with Afghanistan.
He also emphasized that the AfD parliamentary group has unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russia’s attack on Ukraine “unequivocally as a war of aggression contrary to international law.”
The AfD delegation includes two lawmakers in the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, as well as one regional politician and a European Parliament lawmaker.
The group is reportedly travelling to Russia to attend a “BRICS Europe Symposium” with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev listed among the speakers.
The BRICS countries include founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, along with additional nations.
The AfD, an anti-immigrant party that opposes the sanctions slapped on Moscow over the war in Ukraine, has repeatedly made headlines with its Russia-friendly positions.