Since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, President Zelensky has tended to enjoy an enthusiastic welcome whenever he addresses western audiences. His visit to the German parliament last week was different.
In Berlin for a conference on helping his country’s economic recovery, the Ukrainian president received the now obligatory standing ovation — but not from the ranks of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), all but four of whose 77 parliamentarians boycotted his speech. None of the ten MPs from the BSW, a party recently set up by Sahra Wagenknecht, a charismatic “left conservative”, turned up either.
“We refuse to listen to a speaker in camouflage,” declared Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, the AfD’s co-leaders, in a statement in which they dismissed Zelensky