Moscow says Germany’s "Russia card" failed to sway voters

Russia has accused Germany’s ruling parties of trying to use anti-Russian sentiment to influence voters, after the Alternative for Germany (AfD) secured a strong victory in a state election.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the AfD’s result in Saxony-Anhalt was a “convincing victory” and described the performance of the governing Christian Democrats and Social Democrats as poor, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

She said the German authorities had tried to influence voters before the election by announcing the closure of the Russian consulate general and the Russian House in Berlin.

“It did not help,” Zakharova said, adding that Germany’s “Russophobia” could not explain what she described as the government’s failure.

She also accused the German government of damaging bilateral relations with Russia “to the detriment of its own citizens” and said Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his government were responsible for the consequences.

Elections to the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament were held on 6 September. Preliminary official results showed the AfD winning 43.8% of the vote.

The party supports, among other policies, ending military aid to Ukraine and lifting sanctions against Russia.

The defeat of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has been described by experts as a setback for Merz and as a sign of opposition to his government’s policies, including its approach to Russia.

By Aghakazim Guliyev