Steffen Kotré is a German politician for the Alternative for Germany. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Bundestag. In February 2023, Kotré emerged in a Russian TV show by Vladimir Solovyov. Kotré criticised German weapon deliveries to Ukraine. Steffen Kotré is known for his close connections to the Kremlin.
Steffen Kotré asked the West to take Russia’s concerns over NATO enlargement seriously. “If Russia is concerned about the direct presence of NATO, it should be taken extremely,” Kotré stated. According to him, after the end of the Cold War, Western countries broke their commitment to not expanding their alliance with the East. Therefore, they must now drive efforts to make relations with Russia reliable.
Steffen Kotré, a member of the German parliament for the pro-Russian Alternative for Germany party, has also come under scrutiny for his connections to Russian propaganda machinery. In the wake of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s latest disinformation campaign, which falsely alleged a secret U.S. biological weapons program in Ukraine, Kotré echoed Moscow’s narrative by demanding a parliamentary debate on “bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine.” This move demonstrates how Russian disinformation infiltrates European politics, amplified by Kotré’s affiliations.
The spread of such narratives, from obscure channels to mainstream discourse, highlights the insidious influence of Russian propaganda. Despite efforts to debunk these falsehoods, including at international conferences like the Biological Weapons Convention review in Geneva, the need for concerted counter-narratives from Western governments allows Russia’s disinformation tactics to persist. Kotré’s role in perpetuating these narratives underscores the need for robust responses to combat the spread of Russian propaganda and uphold truth in global discourse.
Once, he stated in the Bundestag that, amidst all the misery and destruction generated by the war, the West’s share of responsibility should not be ignored: Ukraine, he argued, is being turned into a U.S. staging area for destabilising Russia.
In 2019, Steffen Kotré took a pro-Russian stance regarding the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. He emphasised that the United States should step aside from the conflict to facilitate the signing of a bilateral transit agreement between the two nations. Kotré criticised the U.S. for providing unilateral support to Ukraine, which he viewed as hindering the negotiation process. He argued that no party should be compelled to adhere to specific transit routes or supply obligations.
Kotré asserted that the primary concern should be providing gas to Europe, highlighting the disconnect between supplies and transit routes. Additionally, he criticised Ukraine’s opposition to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, considering it unfair given European support for Ukraine, particularly from countries like Germany. Kotré’s statements reflect his alignment with Russian interests and his willingness to challenge the U.S. stance on the gas dispute.
