Russia announced on Thursday that the German think tank German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) has been declared an „undesirable” organization, a term that implies the prohibition of its activities on Russian territory. Also on Thursday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared Friedrich Merz to the former Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels in a post on Telegram and warned him: „You’re off to a bad start, Fritz!”
Russia declares DGAP an „undesirable” organization
Russia declared the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) a „undesirable” organization on Thursday, as reported by dpa.
The Moscow Prosecutor General's Office explained that DGAP discredits Russia's domestic and foreign policy by supporting international sanctions and providing assistance to Ukraine in the ongoing war context. This decision is part of a series of actions to suppress German organizations and institutions that criticize the Russian regime. Russian experts collaborating with DGAP could face legal consequences.
Russian justice declared a number of German organizations undesirable, including the German Historical Institute in Moscow and the German Association for East European Studies, following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Medvedev warns Merz: "You're off to a bad start!"
In a post on Telegram, Dmitry Medvedev, former President of Russia and current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, compared German political leader Friedrich Merz to Joseph Goebbels, the former Nazi Minister of Propaganda.
"He's already lying like Goebbels," Medvedev wrote in a post on Telegram on Thursday.
"You're off to a bad start, Fritz!" wrote the former Russian President, using a derogatory Russian term for Germans.
He also expressed hope that Merz would be defeated just like Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945, as reported by Yahoo News.
These statements are a reaction to Merz's comments in the German parliament, where he accused Vladimir Putin of waging "an aggressive war against Europe," highlighting hybrid attacks on European infrastructure and disinformation campaigns.