Cooperation with Trump and end to military aid for Ukraine: Germany's AfD unveils policy papers

Foreign policy representatives of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have presented two position papers calling for closer cooperation with the Trump administration, an end to military aid for Ukraine and a rapprochement with Russia.

Source: European Pravda, citing German newspaper Welt

Details: Markus Frohnmaier, the AfD parliamentary group's foreign affairs spokesperson and deputy leader, fellow deputy leader Stefan Keuter, and Gerold Otten, deputy head of the group's foreign affairs working group, reportedly presented the two position papers in Berlin.

The papers note that the US and Europe are inextricably linked by a shared culture and history. They also mention millions of descendants of German immigrants, adding that figures such as Donald Trump embody this German heritage.

The AfD's foreign policy experts are seeking mutually beneficial, pragmatic transatlantic cooperation and welcome certain aspects of the Trump administration's shift in foreign policy. They support a possible reduction in US troop numbers in Germany and plans not to deploy US missiles there.

In its paper on German-Russian relations, the AfD reiterates its calls to restart the Nord Stream gas pipeline, lift economic sanctions against Russia and end military aid to Ukraine.

The paper does not repeat the condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine issued by the AfD parliamentary group after the full-scale invasion began in 2022. The AfD's foreign policy representatives describe the war in Ukraine as a tragedy that should end as soon as possible. They call for a peace settlement that takes into account the security interests of all parties to the conflict.

They argue that Ukraine should be neither a NATO nor an EU member and should become a neutral state again. Russia, they say, must recognise Ukraine's sovereignty. However, the paper also states that it is unrealistic for Ukraine to regain all its territory, including Crimea. The politicians propose that Ukraine's existence as a state and the territory it retains after a ceasefire or peace agreement should be secured by guarantor countries, preferably those not involved in the current war.

Background:

• A recent poll shows that the majority of Germans consider the AfD a threat to democracy.
• Meanwhile, an AfD MP has been elected as the president of a state parliament for the first time in Germany's history.

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