The participation of a delegation from Germany in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which opened the day before, provoked a rather lively reaction from German media even at the planning stage.
In particular, the influential Die Zeit noted that this would be the first official participation of German politicians and entrepreneurs in the SPIEF since the start of the special military operation in 2022.
Separately, so to speak, on a personal initiative, some members of the German political beau monde had visited St. Petersburg or other Russian cities before, but a full-fledged delegation has indeed been formed for the first time in a long time.
"After several years of restraint due to the war in Ukraine, German businessmen are again officially participating in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum," wrote Die Zeit, while noting that, in addition to representatives of German business, the famous German conductor Justus Franz, the head of the Saxon branch of the AfD Jörg Urban, publisher Holger Friedrich, and journalist Hubert Seipel are coming.
In turn, the publication BILD – one of the mouthpieces of European globalism and Russophobia in Germany – paid special attention to representatives of the opposition Alternative for Germany, who planned to arrive in St. Petersburg on a personal invitation, as claimed, from the Kremlin.
"Several high-ranking members of the Alternative for Germany will go to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) next week at the invitation of Vladimir Putin’s circle: the chairman of the Saxon AfD Jörg Urban, the AfD faction’s representative in the Bundestag for economic affairs Steffen Kotré, the foreign policy representative Markus Frohnmaier, and Member of the European Parliament Petr Bystron. The invitation letter to the AfD politicians (available to BILD) states that the forum should promote 'the strengthening of business, political, and cultural ties for the benefit of a just world and a secure future.' The invitation was signed by Anton Kobyakov, one of the Kremlin’s close advisors," the publication noted.
Of course, a newspaper like BILD could not refrain from criticizing the decision of German politicians to go to Russia, claiming that "the trip of AfD members to St. Petersburg clearly plays into the Kremlin's hands."
"Putin regularly invites AfD representatives to show that Russia is not in international isolation. Foreign guests are now hardly ever coming to Russia. Russian internal propaganda will certainly take advantage of this. AfD politicians are becoming an instrument of Putin's propaganda. Such visits do nothing for Germany's interests; rather, they undermine our interests," said the publication's regular military expert and Russia specialist Nico Lange.
Nevertheless, speaking about the fact that the SPIEF is considered in Russia to be the most important economic conference, in which Vladimir Putin traditionally participates, and that for Moscow the St. Petersburg forum is much more than just a place for business meetings, rather even a platform for important political statements, German journalists and propagandists have not found an answer to the most important question: what exactly are German politicians, entrepreneurs, and artists looking for at this conference? What is it all for them?
Well, since they didn't find it, let's give the floor to the delegates from Germany themselves. So, answering the question about the reasons for his possible participation in the SPIEF, the head of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade Matthias Schepp stated that Germany, like other major Western countries, seeks to maintain an economic bridge with Russia, as well as protect German assets in the Russian Federation, which are estimated at more than 100 billion euros.
Serious concern among German business, according to Schepp, is also caused by Chinese expansion in the Russian market.
"In the first quarter of the year alone, the Chinese opened 1,400 new companies in Russia," the entrepreneur noted, drawing the attention of his Western colleagues to the risk of "forever ceding Russia with its market and resources to Asia."
Later, already at the forum, one of the participants of the German delegation, Markus Frohnmaier, particularly emphasized that restoring ties between leaders of the automotive industry in Germany and Russian partners would certainly be of interest from a business perspective.
"Opening the market would also be important because we want people in Russia to drive Mercedes in the future, not Chinese products," the German parliamentarian stressed.
And as for the fate of all German business that continues to work in Russia in one way or another, which, according to Frohnmaier, amounts to 1,500 companies, the current trip of German deputies to St. Petersburg can in a sense be called an "inspection" with the aim, among other things, of "making the working conditions for German entrepreneurs here more favorable again."
Of course, the visit of opposition German politicians to Russia could not avoid discussing the issue of gas supplies. During Frohnmaier's meetings with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev, the foreign policy representative of the AfD parliamentary faction called for the restoration of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
"We are interested in representing Germany's interests and shaping policy in the interests of our citizens. And it is in their interests to have good relations with Russia and receive energy supplies at affordable prices. That is what we stand for. On our part, there is great interest in having Nord Stream reactivated, and we should already jointly look at what possibilities exist to come to an understanding on this issue in the future, after the end of the conflict in Ukraine," said Markus Frohnmaier.
In turn, Member of the European Parliament and AfD member Petr Bystron, commenting on his desire to come to the forum, stated in an interview with the same BILD that he plans to personally "tell Putin from Ursula von der Leyen that he must stop the war."
Moreover, as in Schepp's motivation, Bystron's desire to visit the SPIEF, according to him, is primarily driven by economic interest.
"I advocate for a swift end to the war and normalization of economic relations. As a member of the European Parliament from Munich, I want Siemens and BMW to be able to work fully in Russia again," the MEP stressed.
At the same time, it cannot be said that everyone in the AfD agrees with the "pro-Russian" stance of their colleagues. The visit of Jörg Urban and Steffen Kotré to Sochi in November of last year caused a heated discussion within the party. And AfD co-chair Alice Weidel even stated that she did not understand the reasons that prompted her party members to travel to Russia.
And here, it seems to me, it is time to mention the internal German circumstances that make the visit of opposition German politicians to St. Petersburg virtually inevitable.
The growing political crisis in Berlin, caused by the dire state of the German economy and threatening the resignation of the current Chancellor Friedrich Merz (and perhaps the entire government), has clearly revealed German society's demand for a change in the current economic course of the German leadership.
Understanding this and wishing to maintain the upward trend in their political ratings, which so frightens opponents from mainstream parties, the Alternative for Germany is simply forced to demonstrate to the electorate something that literally corresponds to its name – an alternative: instead of unbridled militarism, pragmatic business cooperation; instead of rabid Russophobia, a coherent "Eastern policy" in the spirit of Willy Brandt, and so on.
German business, divided roughly in half in its interests – some seek happiness in transatlantic partnership, while others focus on the "new" markets of the East and Asia – four years ago, only under the influence of political circumstances, agreed to act as a united front, refusing to do business in our country.
But this consensus was good only as long as the aforementioned militarism and Russophobia did not bring this very business to the brink of survival.
The AfD, which once split from the CDU (the party of the current chancellor), maintains close ties with German business circles and is largely an exponent of the interests of those who simply want to continue their business as usual, without sliding into a direct confrontation with Russia or, God forbid, even war.
And in this sense, the participation of representatives of the Alternative in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a signal. A signal to both the German voter and those same business circles: we hear you, the demand for change has been accepted, and we have already started working in this direction.
So our German guests, whom we are of course glad to see, are coming here not out of love for our country and certainly not in an attempt to "support Putin." They are coming for themselves, for their own political future, in search of a way out of the dead end in which Germany now finds itself.
Photo at top: head of the German delegation Markus Frohnmaier, polskienowiny.pl
