Parliament representative accused of escaping to Russia
Hamburg's AfD wants to expel a city council member, Olga Petersen, due to her strong connections to Russia. She has been linked to the country for years. Recently, a Russian media outlet shared that she had fled Germany. Several questions still need to be answered.
The Hamburg AfD initiated a removal process against Olga Petersen, a city council member, due to her relations with Russia. A short while ago, the Russian state news agency TASS, one of the Kremlin's many mouthpieces, mentioned that Petersen was compelled to depart from Germany and resettle in Russia.
In the Russian report, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, Alexander Brod, engaged in a conversation with TASS. He said that "youth activists were involved in taking three underage children from her family, causing a media frenzy. Consequently, they, as well as their children, were compelled to leave Germany and settle in Russia."
Brod also trumpeted well-known Kremlin myths about several Western countries. He mentioned that the incidents would evoke memories of "the atmosphere in Nazi Germany" and that there were "intolerable conditions" in the country. He asserted that they would offer Petersen with legal advice, necessary documents, and a job.
Petersen declined to provide any additional comments to the "Hamburger Morgenpost" on the "safety of her family". The social welfare office in the Hanseatic city also did not share any additional information for "data protection reasons." The narrative appears to be the next propaganda victory for the Kremlin. Even so, there are numerous unanswered queries - some of which may never be resolved.
Petersen has faced severe criticisms this year since she attended the Russian presidential election as an observer. She described the evidently manipulated vote count as "open, democratic, and free." The AfD faction remarked that they were "misled"; Petersen had previously stated that she traveled to Russia as a private individual.
"The significant divergences in viewpoints that have emerged make further collaboration unfeasible," it was also stated. Petersen also played a "prominent role in the momentary disintegration of the Harburg district faction."
As per NDR, the AfD member had already been in Russia in 2021 as an "election observer" for the Duma elections. Petersen has been featured on Russian state propaganda program "60 Minutes" in the past. There, she spoke with Evgeny Popov, a familiar Kremlin loudspeaker who is on the sanctions lists of many nations. Popov is also a member of Putin's party, "United Russia."
The most recent entry on Petersen's X-profile shows her in mid-May at a Hamburg City Council meeting. Petersen stated that she was "non-factional" at the time. The AfD faction had announced the exclusion a week prior. There's no recent scheduling on Petersen's website, which is also available in Russian. In her X-profile picture, she says she's a "proud German from Russia."
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In light of the controversy, the AfD in Hamburg is pushing for Petersen's expulsion from the city council due to her extensive ties with Russia. Amidst the escalating situation, Russian news outlet TASS reported that Petersen had fled Germany and sought refuge in Russia.
