AfD youth leader says anti-Russian sanctions are hurting Germany

EU sanctions against Russia have eliminated of thousands of German jobs, the lawmaker from AfD pointed out in an interview with a Russian newspaper.

“German enterprises estimate that Germany has lost more than 42 000 jobs, while some companies went bankrupt,” Markus Frohnmaier told Izvestiya.

He said the AfD, the third strongest party in Germany after the September 24 general elections, would actively seek to end the blockade against Russia.

The imposed political and commercial restrictions have not resolved important international issues regarding countries such as the Ukraine either.

Michael Harms, chairman of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce, also noted that the German economy had suffered billions of lost euros per year due to an anti-Russian policy.

The European Union imposed sanctions on Russia after the Maidan coup in Ukraine and Crimea’s referendum to rejoin Russia in 2014.

Frohnmaier, spokesman for co-leader Alice Weidel, was framed as a “Russian spy” by the German establishment media after visits to Crimea and the Donbass.

And while the US and the EU establishments classify Russian media outlets RT and Sputnik as dangerous state propaganda tools, Western readers see both as reputable sources of information.

Their journalistic contributions are also available in German, Serbian and Croatian. Newspapers and Internet portals in the Balkans take over the free material regularly. Thus, Moscow has been able to counter anti-Russian sentiment to some degree.

“The goal of this reporting can only have a political motivation,” Frohnmaier told Sputnik, whose director-general has been included on the sanctions list of the EU.

“Because it’s a story that gets by without facts, and because the story’s publication made a politically coordinated impression after simultaneous publications in various media outlets.”

As the press officer of former party leader Frauke Petry, Spiegel described 1,7m Frohnmaier as a “fighting dwarf”.

He has established European contacts through the Junge Alternative, with conservative organisations. He also maintains close contacts with the FPÖ youth in Austria.

“There are many conservatives among the Russian Germans and Serbs. Of course, we would like to win them over for us,” he admitted frankly.

He explains his special enthusiasm for Russia as a result of the “sense of family of the Russians” and added: “We miss that in Germany.”

Frohnmaier sees a danger for Germany in the spreading of the Muslim faith, especially with young men between 18 and 35. “There are already areas in Germany where many citizens no longer dare to go. No-go areas for Germans. That is unacceptable.”

The crime statistics show a significant increase in sexual offenses, which for Frohnmaier is a consequence of immigration from other cultures.

Frohnmaier noted: “Some 38 percent of the suspects in Germany are foreigners. Not included are people with migration history. That would change the statistics again massively, I suspect.”

Frohnmaier himself is not a native German. As a baby, he was brought to the country by his adoptive parents from a Romanian children’s home. His wife comes from the Korean minority in Russia.

His boss, co-leader Alice Weidel, lives in a lesbian relationship with children. “We recognize that there are other life models. But we do not want to make it the norm,” Frohnmaier responded.