The visit to the United States by a delegation of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) politicians last weekend and their prominent reception by Republican Party politicians has freaked out the anti-Trump camp in Germany, providing a drastic insight into how the U.S. Administration’s new security doctrine could shake up the institutions in Europe by supporting the opposition. An AfD delegation, led by Bundestag member Markus Frohnmeier, was invited—as were members of Hungary’s Fidesz party and Italy’s Lega party—to the 113th Gala of the New York Young Republicans on Dec. 13. Frohnmeier was given the Allen Dulles Award, and Nathan Berger, Vice President of the Young Republicans’ New York section, welcomed Frohmeier as a potential member of the next German government, polemicizing against the greenie views of the present German government: “Germany is ruled by complete lunatics. These are crazy people. They say, ‘Oh, we don’t want you to drive cars anymore,’ even though Germany has one of the highest car ownership rates and the auto industry is incredibly important to Germany.” Frohnmeier said: “They want to ban my party, Alternative for Germany, just as they tried to exclude President from the elections.” The man giving the introductory speech for Markus Frohnmaier at the event, Dovid Holtzman, said: “Tear down the firewall [against the AfD], Chancellor Merz!”
The New York gala is only one of several prominent contacts which the AfD already has with U.S. Republicans: Member of the European Parliament Petr Bystron was on a parallel visit last week for talks with officials of the U.S. Department of Justice, certainly discussing the institutional and media harassment he is exposed to at home because of his contacts with Russia. The delegation to the gala included Bundestag member Anna Rathert, who in October arranged contact between AfD co-chair Alice Weidel and Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna—who herself has a direct channel to Kirill Dimitriev of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the chief negotiator for Russian economic/investment contacts to the Trump Administration. Luna invited Weidel to visit her, a sign that the AfD’s support for the Trump-Putin diplomacy is highly welcome for the new U.S. approach to Europe—-supporting parties there in opposition to the warmongering governments.
