AfD Member Says Party Unable to Partake in SPIEF 2021 Due to Scheduling Conflicts

ST. PETERSBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th June, 2022) German right-wing Alternative for Germany party (АfD) has received an invitation to the 25th edition of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), however, its delegates are unable to attend it because of the party congress scheduled for mid-June, Waldemar Herdt, a AfD politician and former member of the Bundestag, told Sputnik.

"The forum is taking place simultaneously with our party congress. I thought that the chairman of our international committee in the Bundestag would be able to come. He received an invitation, he was ready to go but it didn't work," Herdt said.

He called the forum an important platform stressing that the West and Russia need to use all possible lines of communication to prevent a disastrous outcome for everyone.

"A lack of dialogue leads to problems. It is simply stupid to ignore the last platforms for communication. Unfortunately, there are very few balanced pragmatic decisions taken in modern politics. All of them are subordinated to some kind of ideology. It always leads to a disaster," the politician stressed.

Participation in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum this year was confirmed by representatives from 90 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, China and India. The 25th-anniversary SPIEF will be held in St. Petersburg from June 15-18.