From Ostpolitik to Putinpolitik: the AfD’s Affinity for Russia
Journal: Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences (University of Skopje)
Year: 2025

This project aims to identify why pro-Putin or pro-Russia sentiments are more common among Alternativ für Deutschland (AfD) members from the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). The project contributes to the ongoing discussion on populism, economic nationalism, and right-wing extremism by using the AfD in Eastern Germany as a case study. Using historical materialism as a theoretical lens, the paper investigates how the historical and material conditions in Eastern Germany contributed to pro