Stefan Keuter is a German politician. He belongs to Alternative for Germany (AfD) and a member of the Bundestag since 2017. He is known for his firm ties to the Russian government. In May 2022 he took part in a discussion entitled “Economy against sanctions” with representatives of Russian politics and business. One of the topics debated was how best to deal with international sanctions.
He unlawfully visited Crimea to take part in the Yalta International Economic Forum in 2018. In 2019 Keuter marked the first round of the presidential elections in Russia-occupied Abkhazia. Since 2019, Keuter has also been collaborating with AFRIC, a Russian network of representatives of influence created by political consultants operating for Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russian businessman near Vladimir Putin.
In 2017, Keuter joined the Bundestag for the AfD on one of the back seats of the North Rhine-Westphalia state list. As soon as he entered the German parliament, Keuter peeked to get closer to Russia. His posts on Facebook offer his pro-Russian Stance. He observed receptions at the Russian embassy, and in 2018 took part in the Russian-organised observation of the presidential elections. Keuter hailed Putin’s Russia in Russian media.
In a report posted on Facebook, he wrote that “the population here acknowledges that Putin is good for Russia and works on behalf of the people, as well as representing national interests.” In Keuter’s perspective, the elections were “free, equal and secret.” More expeditions followed, even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Keuter took part in the Moscow meeting “Economy against Sanctions” online in April 2022. As noted by the ARD, he used the conference to condemn the sanctions against Russia and accused the German media of “propaganda.” Russian media also took on a speech Keuter made in the Bundestag where he declared: “This is not our war.”
Kremlin-friendly European politicians have been invited to honor the disputed “all-Russian voting” on the constitutional amendments offered by President Vladimir Putin. According to those amendments, Putin will be authorized to run for another two terms and to remain in power until 2036. Among the observers was one of the Members of the German Bundestag, Stefan Keuter.
Stefan Keuter resembled the “all-Russian voting” to elections in Germany: “You have cameras everywhere, which we do not have in Germany. And it is expected for you when representatives of the opposition are present as viewers who control everything”. According to Keuter Russia also showed a “high level of transparency”.
