German far right quarrels over MP who teaches music in Moscow academy

Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) is snared in another scandal after a national lawmaker admitted to teaching part time at a Kremlin-linked academy in Moscow.

Matthias Moosdorf, a 59-year-old cellist who sits in the Bundestag for the eastern state of Saxony and also serves as the AfD’s foreign policy spokesperson, last week accepted a part-time honorary professor position at Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow.

The school, financed by Russia’s culture ministry, made headlines just days after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, when a staff member performed a concert wearing a black sweatshirt with the letter “Z” on it, which symbolizes support for Moscow’s war.

The Moosdorf outcry exposes diverging positions within the AfD on Russia, where some top officials have been critical, while other pro-Russians supported the MP.

“Music knows no ideological boundaries,” Moosdorf wrote on Facebook, adding that accepting the professorship is “a sign of understanding.”

“I want to give the young people there [in Russia] the feeling that they are not left behind in Europe,” Moosdorf said. He added that he spent three days in Moscow in September to give an inaugural lecture and plans to go back a few days every quarter to teach chamber music.

Moosdorf’s engagement with the school, however, has caught the attention of the AfD’s parliamentary group leadership, which discussed the matter Monday.

“The Russians are among the world leaders when it comes to classical music … however, this also has a political component,” said Bernd Baumann, a member of the parliamentary group’s committee, adding that a professorship in Russia has to be judged differently than “a professorship somewhere abroad.”

“We see a problem here and the discussions are heading in that direction,” said Baumann.

The office of party co-leader Alice Weidel told POLITICO that nobody was enthusiastic about the professorship.

According to information from German outlet t-media, the group banned Moosdorf from taking part in two planned trips: one to Japan and another to Qatar, while advising him to give up his professorship. A person in AfD party circles who is familiar with the case confirmed that to POLITICO, after being granted anonymity to discuss the subject.

But not everyone shares the leadership’s critical position.

The AfD’s leader in Saxony, Jörg Urban, congratulated Moosdorf on his new job.

“I am glad that our AfD has peace ambassadors like you. Russia is not our enemy. Russians are not our enemies. We need a normal relationship with Russia again. And music is a beautiful bridge of friendship,” he wrote in a post on Facebook.

German AfD MEP Arno Bausemer also expressed support for Moosdorf.

“Matthias Moosdorf is a worldwide known musician. As a member of [the] European Parliament as well as a member of Germany AfD I am very glad that there are politicians like Mr. Moosdorf who have a life beside their political activities and who share their cultural abilities to support people in other countries. It is much better to deliver music books to Russia than to deliver weapons to Ukraine,” Bausemer wrote in a statement shared with POLITICO.

The Russia-friendly party has been rocked by multiple scandals related to Moscow (and Beijing), including one where some of its top members were linked to the dissemination of pro-Russian propaganda.

Espionage and corruption allegations haven’t fatally hurt the AfD, though. The party ended up second in the European Union election in Germany, then scored a historic win in the Thuringia state election.

Pauline von Pezold and Nette Nöstlinger contributed to this report.