In Minsk, a Deputy Foreign Minister Received a Delegation from Brandenburg That Included an AfD Politician

On 9 November in Minsk, Deputy Foreign Minister Ihar Sekreta received a delegation of German politicians and activists from the federal state of Brandenburg. The meeting took place at the Belarusian Foreign Ministry building.

Sekreta said that Belarus is interested in normal relations with Germany, but not at any price. He also said: "Does Europe still think it is isolating us? I would argue. Europe is pursuing a policy of self-isolation from the world, and its consequences are already visible, including on the streets." According to him, Minsk's cooperation with the countries of the Global Majority is bearing positive fruit.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the delegation came to restore Belarusian-German contacts. It is reportedly proposed to build on ties between twin cities.

The trip was initiated by Sven Hornauf, a member of the Brandenburg state parliament from the party "Union for Social Justice and Economic Prudence". The delegation included politicians of different views, among them the far left and the far right.

One of the participants, Anneli Böttcher, stressed that she came primarily as a representative of the twinning movement, not of a party. She said: "I am here because for about 30 years I have been involved in the twinning movement. I consider it a very important task. Even though, perhaps, not all politicians at the top want it. But humanity is an important word for us. And that is why we are here."

Among the guests was also Gottfried Spieth, a Frankfurt (Oder) city councillor from the Alternative for Germany. He is a Protestant clergyman who until recently served as pastor of a Reformed congregation in Switzerland. He held his last service on 10 August 2025.

Böttcher named sport as a promising area: according to her, Belarusian boxers used to come to Germany often, but lately this has not happened. She is also interested in small businesses, since they create an economic base locally.

She expressed hope that contacts would be restored because, in her opinion, "sport, culture and music are outside politics and form the basis for developing human contacts".

Spieth said that the Minsk international conference on Eurasian security, in his view, continues the easing of international tensions. His words: "I think this conference is a continuation of détente."

Spieth cites "peacemaking models": Willy Brandt, Bruno Kreisky and Olof Palme. In an interview with Die Zeit he explained the Russian invasion of Ukraine by Russia's unwillingness to submit to the dictates of the West. In summer 2025, the Swiss Schaffhauser AZ found that he ran a Facebook account under the name of his late brother. In one post he called Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor "democratic pragmatism". Right-wing extremism expert Natascha Strobl assessed his posts as an expression of an established far-right worldview and a relativisation of the Holocaust. Spieth acknowledged authoring the posts but rejected accusations of antisemitism and extremism and calls himself a "right-wing intellectual".

After the scandal, Spieth and his congregation agreed to end his service early, and the cantonal church council did not take the matter as far as removal from office.