Angela Merkel’s ruling center-right alliance between the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union has recently been plagued by pandemic infighting and scandal. But there is an arguably larger scandal engulfing playing out: The Azerbaijan Affair.
Oil-rich and with a tendency to lock up critics, Azerbaijan has been attempting to buy itself a better image in Europe for years.
Vice writes that it’s done this by sponsoring sporting events and bribing politicians. Not always successfully. For example, in 2020 Luca Volontè, a conservative Italian member of the Council of Europe, was found to have been paid around two million euros in order to prevent a critical resolution against Azerbaijan and was sentenced to four years in prison by a Milan court. According to experts, Volontè is only the tip of the iceberg.
In Germany, investigations are underway into a number of German MPs, including Karin Strenz (passed away on March 21, 2021-ed.) and Axel Fischer, both members of the CDU.
Scratch the surface and you’ll find that Azerbaijani influence on Berlin involves a wide network of politicians and lobbyists. Endorsements by German politicians, mostly from the CDU/CSU, are celebrated in Azerbaijan's state media. And that’s because the republic desperately needs good press abroad – for decades, Azerbaijan has been at loggerheads with its neighbor Armenia. Last year, Azerbaijan started a bloody war with Armenia over the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region. The number of casualties is thought to be in the thousands.
Human Rights Watch has described as ‘conspicuous’ the fact that so many conservative German MPs clearly side with Azerbaijan in the dispute, and continue to support the regime despite the state of democracy and human rights in the country.
Vice reports MP and Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Bareiß, a key figure in Chancellor Merkel’s economic policy, has visited Azerbaijan several times.
The online newspaper states that Azerbaijani media often broadcasts interviews from a German television station, TV Berlin, not a big name in Germany, but well-known and well-connected in the capital. In 2015, German media journalist Stefan Niggemeier called TV Berlin an “Azerbaijani government channel”.
