German AfD Party Doubts Claims On Russia's Role In Navalny Poisoning - Spokesman

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 09th December, 2020) The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party considers unreliable any claims about Russian government involvement in the alleged poisoning of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, Armin-Paulus Hampel, the AfD party spokesman in the Bundestag's committee on foreign affairs, told Sputnik in an interview.

Earlier in the day, an AfD delegation visited Moscow and held a meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"Yes, we talked about the sanctions as well, the Nord Stream 2 project as well, we discussed the Navalny case. And you know, the AfD has a certain position when it comes, in particular, to the Navalny case. Let's say it very clearly and openly � I said it to the German parliament before � how stupid a government can be if they would try to get rid of the political opponent by using a poison which is used as a mass destruction weapon, and later on to send this person directly to Germany that we get all evidence that it was some kind of poison," Hampel said.

The party official expressed concern that Germany's will to finish the Nord Stream 2 project would be undermined by US pressure.

"I think that the true will of the German government to complete this project and make it successful has been weakened already and will be weakened in the present and future time, especially by the pressure of any kind, of US government.

The pressure will remain, if it's [US President Donald] Trump or Joe Biden, the pressure will remain, and I think that especially since the Navalny case was so much discussed in Germany," Hampel said, adding that the AfD will do everything to make the project possible.

On August 20, Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight in Russia. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane made an emergency landing. Two days later, when the doctors determined that he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation, the politician was taken to the Berlin-based Charite hospital for further treatment.

In a statement, the German government said that doctors had found evidence of a poisonous nerve agent from the Novichok group in Navalny's body. Russia disputed these allegations, noting that its doctors had found no toxic substances in Navalny while he was treated in Omsk.

Following the incident, some in the German political establishment began accusing the Kremlin of being responsible for what happened and demanding for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to be included in a European response.