r/europe • u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) • 17h ago
News German far-right AfD politician gets angry as reporter spots his Russian army mug
https://tvpworld.com/95134004/germany-afd-politician-tillschneider-defends-owning-russian-army-mug222
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u/Puzzleheaded-King584 15h ago
Dude's reaction says it all. Getting that pissed over a simple question about a Russian army mug screams he's got something to hide.
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u/hannes3120 Leipzig (Germany) 13h ago
I especially liked the moment in the video when he wants to end the discussion by putting the mug away into a (closed) cupboard - but when he's about to open that cupboard he hesitates and instead puts it on top.
I wonder what else was stowed away in there that he remembered in the last moment :D
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u/OVazisten 15h ago
Looks like the greatest challenge to the EU at this point is how to stop Russian agents being voted into power.
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u/Mean_Initiative_5962 Italy 13h ago edited 12h ago
They're pretty easy to
spotstop. Now can we PLEASE do something about them?edit. my half dyslexic self mmixing up words in the morning
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u/OVazisten 12h ago
I would suggest to study Hungary. We went through the same ordeal, but we started in 2006-2010. Our solutions are useful for others as well.
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u/Mean_Initiative_5962 Italy 12h ago
Wasn't the hungarian solution having the situation so fucked up that even Orban's propaganda wasn't enough? (and still almost half the population voted for him anyway)
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u/OVazisten 12h ago
Much-much more complicated than that. He won four elections in a row, while the oppsition failed to do anything while Orbán was totally unpopular. I kid you not, in 2022, when he won his last two-thirds majority polls showed that 66% of citizens thought that things are going in the wrong way (27% saw the country going the right way). Citizens felt that everything is on fire and still voted on Piggy. If you talked to his voters, you heard things like "At least they can govern", or "The opposition parties are way worse, fides is the smaller pile of shit".
The problem is that according to the traditional thinking if the situation gets bad enough, people will vote for the opposition. Which is definitely not the case. You can find a more detailed explanation here: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/11dn0gs/oc_opinion_the_curious_case_of_hungary_or_the/
The problem is that the European system was designed to uphold the status quo. Which is fine and dandy until people see their future in it. But when you have masses who do not feel delighted in the system, who feel they are left out of it or are totally powerless, not being able to start their own life like their parents did, then it is futile to wait for people to vote for the "old" parties which represent the old status quo, which was so bad that people voted even to the far right when they were the only ones who promised change.
For instance in Hungary in 2022 (the year where 66% felt things are going bad) the united opposition parties failed to turn this unsatisfaction into votes. In 2026 a brand new party started out, who promised they would not use the old politicians, not even fidesz, not even from the opposition, which turned out to be the key to their victory.
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u/Key-Speaker007 10h ago
Easy. End it's self-destructive migration policy and provide economic growth. Low salary growth, unaffordable housing and terrorist attacks are driving people to the right.
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u/AnonNeedsHelpxx 1h ago
But the right is only making the situation worse. How does that make sense?
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u/ZuzBla 15h ago
If it walks like a duck, quacks like one...
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u/SpaceMonkeyOnABike United Kingdom 15h ago
... Kill it and have it for dinner with a delicious sauce?
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u/Harold-The-Barrel 5h ago
Then the best course of action is to keep following the duck and blame the left for not warning you enough about the duck
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u/Cornflake0305 Germany 15h ago
What more is there to say other than that it's perfectly on brand.
AfD are Russian puppets/agents and our domestic/foreign intelligence services have entirely failed to prevent their infiltration.
Shout-out to our majority parties for completely fucking up their current term to ensure we will get 30+% AfD in the next federal election.
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u/me-need-more-brain 14h ago
At this point ( and taking into account how far right "Verfassungsschutz" is internally), i´m not even sure that anyone here failed, but looked in the other direction on purpose.
Remeber the prohibition of the NPD that was partially thwarted, because half of the party members were actually state agents?
There are currently 364 members of the BfV (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz) that are under suspicion of being far right.....what do you think those are voting ?
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u/RoyBeer Germany 12h ago
Bold of you to assume they're not doing it on purpose.
completely fucking up their current term
EierOur Fritz is not even acknowledging doing anything wrong.3
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u/onarainyafternoon Dual Citizen (American/Hungarian) 12h ago
I have increasingly gotten the feeling that Mertz is trying to soften the public to ruling in coalition with AfD after the next election. Like trying to make them seem more legitimate so when they form a coalition it isn’t seen like it should be, which is horrific.
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u/W4lhalla 8h ago
Well one of the reasons why the CDU isn't doing more for the climate is because they know that if they do climate politics, it would strengthen the greens.
Meanwhile their rethoric and policies get closer and closer to the AfD to " get their voters back"... sure. They only do it to legitimize AfD policies and make people more comfortable in a possible coalition with the AfD
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u/inevitablelizard 7h ago
It's certainly very fitting that modern Nazis want to jump straight to the part where they surrender to Russians.
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u/Augergrundel 14h ago
as another comment said, I am not so much ashamed that people like him exist, but that normal German people (who don't get money from the KremlGremlin and so on) vote for him.
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u/hannes3120 Leipzig (Germany) 13h ago
"The best argument against democracy is a five minute talk with the average voter."
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u/MaleierMafketel 11h ago
Large enough groups of people have the irritating knack for emergent stupidity.
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u/kfijatass Poland 12h ago
Which is what pricks like the quote author would like you to believe.
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u/hannes3120 Leipzig (Germany) 11h ago
Afaik it's wrongly attributed - that's why I didn't add the commonly mentioned author to it.
And it totally is true though. A huge amount of people are absolutely not interested in democracy and just want to be left in peace and listen to populists that promise them exactly that.
But Democracy only works well if people are actually informed about what they are voting for and don't blindly vote for the option that looks most convenient on the surface.
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u/kfijatass Poland 10h ago edited 10h ago
It's only true if you believe it's true and drive yourself to apathy. It's a kind of self fulfilling prophecy criticism of democracy, not its genuine criticism. It's a self-reinforcing epistemic and civic feedback loop.
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u/hannes3120 Leipzig (Germany) 10h ago edited 8h ago
I believe (or at least hope) that I'm the opposite of apathetic
I help organize election campaigns and talk to people on the street before elections.
And it's absolutely bewildering how uninformed half of those people are. And how little interest there is to get better informed.
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u/kfijatass Poland 10h ago
It's one to criticize level of information, I have no quarrel with that. It's when low level of information is used to discourage voting, leading to a feedback loop.
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u/hannes3120 Leipzig (Germany) 9h ago
It's when low level of information is used to discourage voting
I'm not discourage people from voting at all. I just wish more people would take the time to get informed properly before doing it.
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u/kfijatass Poland 8h ago
I feel engagement leads to more discussions which ends up with more people informed. In a sense this feedback loop works both ways.
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u/SolidestCereal 7h ago
Who IS the quote's author?
Hint: His name does not rhyme with Binston Murchill
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u/questiiionableperson 3h ago
Churchill wasn't wrong though, the average voter is a total moron. He also wasn't anti-democracy, given he had other quotes like this:
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
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u/GreenApocalypse 9h ago
The simple solution is to have a relatively left meaning party that is also strict on immigration. Sounds like a slam dunk. It worked great in Denmark, but no one else is really doing it
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u/Zanji123 14h ago
It's not only the mug
- he had i think 5 crates of beer bottles around
- several other strong alcohol
- a book about hitler...the so called stalin documents with spy info about Hitler. When asked about it he jus said "well these books got delivered here so i put them on the shelve they are not mine"
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u/AbyssicSerpent 13h ago
There is also a Book from Dugin in the Shelf.
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u/Idiberug 4h ago
Reminder that Dugin's vision is that Germany should become a European hegemon, subservient to Russia but dominating the smaller Central European countries.
Most Germans would see nothing wrong with this.
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u/AbyssicSerpent 3h ago edited 3h ago
Yes I get that Plan for Germany and I get that it isn't the worst possible Role. But I still don't get why any "Patriot" (this is what Tillschneider, and the AFD calls themself) would his Nation let become the puppet of a hostile Nation. A failed state of a hostile Nation, that acts like a Mafia-Clan who is fallen back into Stone-age-Barbarism.
And, as a German, I can say that it is by far not the most of us who see nothing wrong with this. Beside the fact, that he is not very well known here, even most AFD Voters wouldnt agree to Dugins Plans for Europe. They just don't know about that and/or don't want to know.
And tbh that Topic is far beyond the cognitive horizon of most AFD Voters. Most of them just wanna get rid of Migrants, the old Partys and/or the leftists. they just repeat stupid propaganda and seem not able to look deeper into the nature of the AFD...
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u/inokentii Kyiv (Ukraine) 15h ago
Member of party which created volunteer German unit in russian army got merch of russian army? Unbelievable
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u/DigSpelledBackwards 14h ago
How are they not banned yet? Start the process. Also, how is foreign funding and influence from an enemy regime so normalised in Europe (and US)??
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u/Vistella Germany 7h ago
they arent banned yet cause the CDU needs them, otherwise they would have to coalation with the greens or, heaven forbid, the left next term
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u/LowerBed5334 13h ago
The entire party leadership should be arrested as traitors and spies. They are working for Russia. It's been obvious from the start, and they don't even try to hide it!
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u/bxzidff Norway 12h ago
If they are voted into power they will do immense, unrepairable damage to Germany, the EU, and European as a whole. This is as openly treasonous as it gets, he receives fucking merch from the Russian army, and still they poll so high. If they get power we are all fucked, for a long, long time.
This isn't just hidden bribes, it's in the open, and the party still supports him. The voters still vote for him. It's insane. One government of these guys and all hope of a Europe that isn't an exploited playground for Russia and other hostile powers is lost.
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u/Erfar 6h ago
oh they are pro-peace
same way as russia pro-peace, or any other invader
peace where Ukraine surrender and nor resist
peace where they can continue business as usual with moskow
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u/PanTheOpticon 6h ago
"The aggressor is always peace-loving; he would prefer to take over our country unopposed." - Carl von Clausewitz
Still very relevant.
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u/Berlin1968 6h ago
I am German and I am asking myself this question daily: what more has to happen???
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u/Federal-Cold-363 5h ago
It will continue until someone shows up in power with a close resemblance to a very recognisable moustache. Afterwards all the supporters will shrug and simply state wir haben es nicht gewusst 🤷♂️
History of humankind, the more things change the more it stays the same.
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u/CustomerBusiness3919 13h ago
"Why did we bother educating everyone for the last 75 years about Nazism and fascism if the next time it appears so many of us look it squarely in the face and decide it can't possibly be what it obviously is".
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u/midnightrider747 14h ago
Oh they dont want u to see that the whole party is like an extension of putins fsb and dont want the stupid angry people who vote for em to notice.
It doesnt mattee sadly since a guy like merz thinks hes invincible and keep stirring the couldron and helping russia to control the opinion inside east germany
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u/North-Creative 14h ago
He doesn't have the right to get angry. Fascists are exempted from human rights, as they openly are against them.
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u/dat_9600gt_user Lower Silesia (Poland) 11h ago
Accusations of the AfD’s pro-Russian sentiments have again come to the forefront ahead of a state election in September where the party is eyeing a strong showing.
Edited by: Piotr Kononczuk
31.08.2026, 14:05 | Update 14:53
A leading regional member of Germany’s far-right AfD party has been criticized for having a mug in his office that says “Russian Army”, and tried to block the release of footage that showed the inscription ahead of upcoming state elections.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has often been accused by critics of harboring pro-Russia sentiments, with party politicians regularly calling for the normalization of relations with Moscow and halting military aid to Kyiv.
Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, a deputy chairman of the AfD in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, was seen with the mug during the filming of a news report by German tabloid Bild.
The AfD is hoping to lead a regional government for the first time following state elections in Saxony-Anhalt next month.
The video was filmed in the politician’s office in the town of Querfurt, where Bild deputy editor Paul Ronzheimer noticed the mug and questioned Tillschneider about it and the lack of memorabilia from other militaries, including Germany’s own Bundeswehr.
“The mug is just sitting there. I don’t associate anything special with it. It was given to me as a gift,” Tillschneider can be heard saying in the video, adding that Russia’s war in Ukraine is “not our war.”
When pressed further on the subject by the Bild reporter, Tillschneider goes on to say that he does not remember who gave him the gift and that he does “not stand in solidarity with either the Russian army or the Ukrainian one… now stop with this stupid mug.”
Bild reported that, following his interview with the publication, Tillschneider tried to use legal action to prevent the publication of the video showing the mug.
The footage prompted criticism from leading members of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
CDU Secretary General Franziska Hoppermann said on social media on Saturday: “Posing as patriots, but paying homage to the Russian warmonger. The AfD remains the [Russian President Vladimir] Putin party. The AfD is a security risk for Germany.”
Conrad Clemens, a CDU member serving as culture minister in Saxony, told Bild that “the self-proclaimed peace party drinks from Russian army mugs… [Tillschneider] must not be given power over textbooks, curricula and timetables.”
Tillschneider is reportedly being considered for the role of education minister in Saxony-Anhalt if his party wins next month’s regional election.
Recent polling cited by Reuters placed support for the AfD in Saxony-Anhalt at 41% – well above the 24% backing for the CDU.
AfD win would be ‘very bad’ for Germany
Andreas Umland, an analyst at the think tank European Policy Institute in Kyiv, told TVP World last week that an AfD majority in the region would “look very bad” for Germany.
Umland said: “That would be a sea change in German politics. That would be the first time since World War II that we would have a regional government dominated by a party that is not only right-wing populist, but that is generally classified now as right-wing extremist.”
AfD branches in several German states are officially classified as “right-wing extremist” by regional authorities, while the country’s domestic intelligence agency classifies the party overall as “suspected” right-wing extremist – labels which the party rejects.
The party has quickly propelled itself to the forefront of national politics since its founding in 2013, becoming the second largest party – and the largest in opposition – in the German parliament following federal elections in February last year.
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u/sparki_black 10h ago
They are fully sponsored by the Russians and trying to interfere in European politics and try to gain influence this needs to be stopped at all costs.
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u/nyrup4life 15h ago
Honestly I don’t mind AfD. We know Russia constantly try to meddle in opponents internal political affairs. This is unavoidable. They themselves aren’t the problem. My disappointment resides with the fact the real Germans are voting for them. That’s just so disappointing. Like they’ve completely forgotten what happened before. Poor humanship in my opinion. Those jokers are inherently bad people.
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u/YF422 12h ago
AfD are strait up Russian Tools and closet Nazi's it's a shock that they're still not banned at this stage. Reservations aside it's become clear that if these sorts of groups aren't stopped while the legitimate grievances they hijacked for their own ends aren't addressed, they only become a much bigger problem over time (see. MAGA etc).
They should jus rename themselves Vatniks for Germany because they're obvious Russian Fascist loving tools at this point.
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u/boterkoeken Utrecht (Netherlands) 10h ago
The problem is not that they are Russian operatives. The problem is when they get caught with definite proof.
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u/RMAPOS 7h ago
It's so weird that these people are so uncareful. You're gonna undermine a government with foreign influence, do you really have to use your sponsor's merchandise while doing it?
It seems like an insanely dumb oversight... even on Russia's part. Why would I set an undercover agent up with merchandise that obviously links them to me?
And what the fuck kind of bribe involves a fucking mug? Bro, you're a corrupt politician. You can buy a fucking mug for like 5€. Is Russia's merchandise really THAT much of an important part of your self expression that you have to publicly use it? Are we just past nondescript briefcases with 5million in unmarked bills in them and have moved on to trashy gifts with the payee's logo on it? WTF?
And last but not least, of course, there is STILL the morons voting for the party that is blatantly too inept to hide that they're obviously paid foreign agents.
There is literally only stupid people involved in all of this, through and through. And in spite of their incompetence they're gaining ground.
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u/MakeMeDoBetter 5h ago
Dont for a second think that its only stupid people behind the push for authoritarianism. There are always clever people willing to throw everyone else under the bus for power and privilege.
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u/AquaQuad 7h ago
Love the comedic value in that. "Oh my, I'm a sell out. Better order a mousepad and a t-shirt to show my support!"
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u/Darthplagueis13 3h ago
Aw, he says it was gifted to him?
Well, here's some news: You don't need to keep a gift if it is objectively vile.
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u/notTHEOwlAccountant Polentone in Germany 13h ago
Quite wild how both the far right and far left are just Russian puppets, it's like Russia is pushing for extremism and division!
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u/Ditch-Worm 8h ago
How does Russia have enough money to pay all its bot armies and its literal army?
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u/Squiliam-Tortaleni Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 7h ago
They’re not even hiding it anymore, which is probably good because maybe people will realize they’re Russian assets before its too late
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u/SempreAntifa 1h ago
Almost all rightwing and liberal politicians (aka rightwingers, but in disguise) are either sponsored by Putin, Nethaniahu or Epstein. Why is it so hard for their voters to stop giving their support to apathetic scumbags
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u/doomnezau Romania 15h ago
and that's why you don't have any real alternative. either get cuked or cucked by russia.
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u/banaslee Europe 14h ago
Don’t forget these idiots get time in the news that we could use to discuss other ideas. Having them in the scene gives an excuse not to bring out better ideas because everything must be better than Nazis.
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u/Seestern69 8h ago
Oh no a mug. Can we talk about the die Grünejugend love the flag of the Sovjetsunion?
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u/NecroVecro Bulgaria 3h ago
It's not just the mug
https://correctiv.org/aktuelles/2022/02/28/russlands-krieg-entlarvt-europas-rechte/
https://taz.de/Rechtsextreme-und-der-Ukraine-Krieg/!5909638/
Can we talk about the die Grünejugend love the flag of the Sovjetsunion?
I mean sure, nothing stops you to make a post about it, though you should be prepared to post actual proof (I mostly remember them using soviet inspire posters 5 years ago)
That being said, the situation regarding the AFD and Russia seems more relevant and important.
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u/Seestern69 3h ago
One left wing Magazin. Another left wing Magazin. And another. How about trying with real based Arguments?
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u/PanTheOpticon 15h ago
So the party that is paid by Russia (and China) is pro-Russian? *pretends to be shocked*
Well they are certainly patriots just not for Germany.