Most German lawmakers from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the upstart populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) boycotted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech to the German parliament, the Bundestag, on Tuesday.
Only four of the AfD’s 77 MPs appeared in the Bundestag Chamber in Berlin ahead of Zelensky’s speech, after party leaders told them not to attend. None of the ten members of the BSW showed up either.
Leaders of Germany’s mainstream political parties expressed their disgust at both the AfD and BSW for the stunt.
Both the AfD and the BSW are strongly opposed to military aid to Ukraine. A number of AfD members in particular have expressed their support for Russia and their admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We refuse to listen to a speaker in a camouflage suit,” said AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. “The government should not give him a platform to beg for reconstruction. Citizens pay more than enough for military aid, EU aid and social services for Ukrainian refugees.”
The AfD leaders claimed that Ukraine needs a peace president who is willing to negotiate.
The BSW, which broke away from the far-left party Die Linke (Left) and campaigned on a platform that combines left-wing economic policies with some far-right positions, also denounced Zelensky.
“Unfortunately, President Zelensky is currently helping to promote a very dangerous spiral of escalation and accepts the risk of a nuclear conflict with devastating consequences for the whole of Europe,” the party said in a statement. “He should therefore not be honored with a special event in the German Bundestag.”
