German Far-Right Leader Questions NATO Membership

Berlin —
Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said on Sunday that Germany should reconsider its NATO membership if the military alliance led by the United States does not take into account the interests of all European countries, including Russia.

«Europe has been forced to implement the interests of the United States. We reject that,» Chrupalla told the German newspaper Welt.

The AfD leader argued that NATO is no longer serving its purpose as a defense alliance. «A defense community must accept and respect the interests of all European countries, including Russia’s interests,» he said. «If NATO cannot guarantee this, Germany must consider to what extent this alliance is still useful to us,» he added.

The AfD, currently polling at 18-19% ahead of the early elections on February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition government last month, is positioning itself as one of the key parties. This puts the party ahead of Scholz’s Social Democrats, who are polling at 16-17%, and just behind the conservative CDU-CSU bloc, which leads with 31-32%.

While the AfD has little chance of forming a government as other parties have ruled out cooperation with them, it may continue its streak of strong electoral results, following a historic victory in Thuringia, an eastern German region that was once communist.

The far-right party has been a vocal critic of Germany’s military support for Ukraine and has advocated for an end to the war triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion. «The German government must finally reach the point of wanting to end the war,» said Chrupalla. He also added that «Russia has won this war. Reality has caught up with those who want to allow Ukraine to win the war.»

The conflict in Ukraine will be one of the central themes of the campaign, which will coincide with the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion. Scholz, for his part, has promised continued support for Ukraine, but with caution, aiming to tap into pacifist sentiments among voters, especially in eastern Germany.

The chancellor has resisted calls to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, which could be used to strike Russian territory, out of fear it could draw Germany directly into the conflict. He has also recently resumed direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.