Three German politicians celebrated Putin's birthday

On October 7, the Russian embassy in Germany hosted an event to celebrate Putin's 73rd birthday. It was organized by the far-right magazine Compact, which was banned for a while for spreading anti-constitutional views.

During the event, Compact editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsaesser praised Putin as a "statesman" and "patriot" who defends Western values against the "leftist West," and wished him a long life.

Hans-Thomas Tilschneider, Florian Schröder, and Frank Otto Lizurek, members of the AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament, were invited to the event.

Tilschneider has previously made headlines repeatedly for his proximity to Russia, including a visit to Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine in 2022.

Oliver Kirchner, co-chair of the AfD parliamentary faction in Saxony-Anhalt, explained on October 8 that he was informed about the participation of three deputies in the event at the Russian embassy, but he himself was not invited.

Commenting on the situation, he said that "you have to deal with all sides."

Instead, the visit of far-right politicians was sharply criticized by other parties.

"Are you surprised? Part of this AfD parliamentary group and part of AfD as a whole have now definitely departed from the soil of a free democratic basic order," said Guido Hoyer, the leader of the conservative CDU parliamentary faction.

And the leader of the Social Democratic parliamentary faction, Andreas Silbersack, said that the Alternative for Germany must ultimately decide "who they will get into bed with — Putin or Trump."