The co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Tino Chrupalla, has questioned Germany’s membership of NATO.
“A defense alliance must accept and respect the interests of all European countries – including the interests of Russia,” Chrupalla told Die Welt newspaper in comments published on Sunday.
“If NATO cannot guarantee this, Germany should consider to what extent this alliance is still beneficial to us,” he added.
Chrupalla described a proposal from within his party for Germany to leave the European Union as a maximum demand and referred to the idea of replacing the bloc with an “economic and [shared] community of interest.”
“Before an exit [from the EU]clear agreement should be reached on a new foundation. This also applies to NATO,” said Chrupalla.
Regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine, the AfD politician stated that the German government must finally reach a stage where it wants to end the war.
“Russia has won this war. Reality has caught up with those who claim to want to enable Ukraine to win the war,” Chrupalla said.
The AfD is currently second in national polls ahead of elections expected in February.
However, the country’s established parties have ruled out cooperation with the AfD, which is being investigated by the intelligence services as a suspected right-wing extremist group.
