Pro-Russian networks among European political parties are developing. Also: the Alternative for Germany (AfD). She hopes to get closer to the Kremlin with her Bulgarian allies.
Sophie Tiedemann/Times Online
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His critics call Bulgarian politician Kostadin Kostadinov “Kosta Kopek,” an allusion to Russia's smallest monetary unit. Kostadinov is the leader of the right-wing extremist party Vasrashdane, which means “rebirth.” She is considered particularly loyal to the Kremlin, even among other European right-wing extremists.
Controversial Bulgarian politician Kostadin Kostadinov.Image: trapezoid
However, she was not ostracized by her peers. Waslashdan, who holds three seats in the European Parliament, belongs to the European Group of Sovereign Countries, a group formed in August by parties from eight countries and classified as a particularly radical group. Also involved is the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which was expelled from its previous parliamentary group shortly before the European elections.
Right-wingers from Germany and Bulgaria, they get along very well. This was due to their sympathy for Russia, but also to the sympathies of figures such as party leader Kostadinov and his confidant Radha Lekova. It is considered a bond between both parties. Lekova participates in online meetings, leads Alternative for Germany politicians on visits to Bulgaria, and works on reorienting Germany-Bulgaria towards Moscow.
The AfD's advances are not new, and are not just happening in Europe's capital Brussels. As early as July 2023, Kostadinov and Lekova stood together on the podium at the Alternative Party congress in Magdeburg. Bulgaria and Germany became allies twice in the last century, Kostadinov said, referring to the First and Second World Wars. It is time for Germany to take back its rightful place as Europe's leading power, “and not just in Europe.” Maximilian Krah, the leading candidate of the Alternative for Germany, praised Chairman Wasraschdane:
“My dear swan, we can learn more about the courage and passion that has led to this point.”
The one who was impressed was a good friend of the Bulgarian Kremlin: Alternative for Germany politician Maximilian Krach.Image: trapezoid
Public solidarity with Russia
Lekova, who translated Kostadinov’s speech, was still the AfD’s European policy adviser in the Berlin Bundestag; today she sits with Kostadinov in the EU parliament. In August 2024, she announced on Instagram that the AfD and Wasrashdane would “work together for a Europe of our motherland.” The pro-Russian line is clear in both parties: Lekova's colleagues in the EU parliament include a journalist with close ties to the Kremlin who previously presented a program for a Bulgarian public radio station and was disciplined by the pro-Russian planning committee Punishment. publicity.
Representatives of Vaslashdan visited Russia twice this year at the invitation of the Kremlin. After the invasion of Ukraine, party supporters showed solidarity with Russia by displaying the “Z” symbol. The AfD, in turn, has called for normalizing relations with Russia and lifting sanctions in its plans for European elections.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin also has his supporters in the West.Image: trapezoid
Therefore, it is an honor for a party representative to become a supporter of the anti-Western line of his Bulgarian colleagues. On March 3 this year, Bulgaria’s National Day, Lekova and Alternative Party MPs visited the EU’s southeastern external border between Bulgaria and Türkiye. She led the delegation to the historic Shipka Pass in the central Balkan Mountains. At the end of the 19th century, Bulgarians, with the help of Russia, escaped foreign rule from the Ottoman Empire. A video showed Lekova singing amid a sea of Russian and Bulgarian flags alongside party leader Kostadinov and Alternative for Germany lawmaker Rainer Rothfuss. NDR research shows he has close ties to the ultra-nationalist motorcycle gang Russian Night Wolves.
Rumena Filipova is a researcher at the independent think tank Institute for Global Analysis (IGA) in Sofia. She said Russian propaganda was launched in Bulgaria precisely during those holidays that marked key moments in the country's history: “Vaslashdan took advantage of Bulgaria's national days and was supported by the international community.” The party's ultimate goal It is to further strengthen Russia’s role in Bulgaria and even the EU.
The Kremlin’s propaganda goals
Bulgaria is seen as a key target of the Kremlin’s narrative within the EU. In 2023, the Sofia Humanitarian and Social Research Foundation (HSS) announced that there were nearly 400 active so-called mushroom sites in the country; in other words, these were websites that mass-spread disinformation for the benefit of the Russian government. Propaganda has long since made the leap from digital to analog. And, one study concluded, it has the potential to jeopardize fundamental rights — such as dehumanizing sexual minorities.
Vasrashdane is already a success in his own country. In August, the party proposed an amendment to the law that would ban discussion of non-heterosexual topics in schools. The law was quickly passed by parliament. Teachers from the Bulgarian port city of Varna who spoke out against the law in a petition were blacklisted and publicly pressured by party representatives. After the law was passed, Lekova posted on Facebook: “Just because we won the battle does not mean we won the war.” IGA researcher Filipova said Vasrashdane has been spreading a lot of disinformation about so-called gender ideology for years . There was no outcry: “The public has become accustomed to hateful propaganda.”
At the same time, Rada Laykova continued to work on the development of the right-wing European network. It was not until October that she participated as a representative of Wasraschdane at the International Women's Congress organized by AfD politician Irmhild Bossdorf. Photos from the event show Laykova standing next to daughter Reinhild Bossdorf, all smiles. In turn, she describes herself online as an expert on jam recipes and is the founder of a right-wing radical women's group monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Rada Laykova writes in Die Zeit Online about her inquiry. Network activity went unanswered.
This article first appeared on Zeit Online. Watson may have changed the title and subtitle. Click here to view the original article.
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