Former Russian president Medvedev compares Germany’s Merz to Goebbels

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has compared Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz to former Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

Medvedev, who now serves as the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that Merz was “already lying like Goebbels” in a post on Telegram on Thursday.

“You’re off to a bad start, Fritz!” wrote Medvedev, using a pejorative Russian term for Germans.

He also said he hoped Merz would be defeated like Nazi Germany was in 1945.

The comments followed Merz’s assertion on Tuesday in the German parliament that Russian President Vladimir Putin is waging a “war of aggression against Europe,” highlighting hybrid attacks on European infrastructure and disinformation campaigns.

Merz’s claim came during a vote to pass a constitutional reform to finance a massive increase in German defence spending in response to Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

Medvedev served as Russia’s president from 2008 and 2012 and also had spells as prime minister.

He has regularly publicly criticized Western leaders since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

German think tank declared ‘undesirable’

Also on Thursday, Russia declared the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) think tank an “undesirable” organization.

The move was announced by the Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow, which said the DGAP discredits Russia’s foreign and domestic policies.

Prosecutors accused the well-known institute of supporting sanctions against Moscow and military and financial aid for Ukraine.

The classification is tantamount to a ban on activities in Russia.

Russian experts who cooperate with the think tank could be punishable by law.

The Russian judiciary has categorized a number of German organizations as undesirable since the outset of the conflict in Ukraine, including the German Historical Institute Moscow and the German Association for East European Studies.

The DGAP aims to shape debates on foreign policy in Germany.