Further Deterioration of German-Russian Relations Possible If Greens Enter Gov't, AfD Lawmaker Says

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - The Greens, poised to become part of the new German government, are likely to advocate toughening the country's stance towards Russia, Eugene Schmidt, a newly elected lawmaker with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Sputnik on Wednesday.

The AfD lawmaker said he did not expect any major changes to the political course towards Russia set during Angela Merkel's government. The sanctions and a generally aggressive tone will remain, according to Schmidt.

"As for the Nord Stream project, it certainly meets the German interests, but the Greens, who are likely to enter the government, are extremely aggressive towards both Russia and the project, so negative developments are possible," Schmidt noted.

He added, however, that the AfD will continue to advocate for lifting anti-Russian sanctions and building neighborly relations.

Annalena Baerbock, the leader of the Greens, has been insistent that Germany drop the Nord Stream 2 gas project, accusing Russia of exacerbating the gas crisis in Europe for its own interest.

The German parliamentary elections took place on Sunday. The Social Democratic Party came in first, marginally outperforming Merkel's ruling CDU/CSU bloc. The Greens and the Free Democratic Party came in third and fourth, respectively, followed by the AfD and the Left. Parties are now negotiating the possible formation of coalition.

AfD to Represent Interests of Russian Germans in Newly Elected Bundestag

The interests of the Russian community in Germany will be represented in the newly elected Bundestag, Schmidt shared with Sputnik.

"In the Bundestag I plan to devote a considerable part of my time to the interests and needs of the Russian-Germans, who have been very poorly represented in politics so far," Schmidt said.

Among the most pressing issues the community is facing now are pensions, which, according to the AfD lawmaker, "were artificially lowered for immigrants from the former Soviet republics", and family reunification, in many cases hindered by the language proficiency requirement.

In January, an association for the rights of Russian-Germans sent the government a list of proposed amendments to the "late immigrants law" over alleged discriminatory procedures required of those from Kazakhstan and Siberia during the application and naturalization processes.

In 2013, Berlin adopted amendments to the immigration laws to encourage the return of migrants with German roots, expecting to attract around 100,000 people annually. However, the German authorities failed to reach that target, as the real number of migrants from the former Soviet countries continued to be significantly lower due to bureaucratic hurdles seen by many as discriminatory.