Robert Risch at International League of Anti-Globalist Paladins in St. Petersburg, Russia, September 2025. Photo: Radio Liberty

Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party has expelled one of its Hamburg city councillors after it was revealed that he had attended a conference of an international fascist umbrella organisation in Russia’s second city St. Petersburg in September, German public broadcaster NDR reported on Wednesday.

Robert Risch was expelled from the party for attending the inaugural conference of the International League of Anti-Globalist Paladins, a group set up to facilitate dialogue between far-right extremist organisations around the world.

The AFD’s top official in Hamburg, Dirk Nockemann, confirmed Risch’s expulsion, describing his participation in the conference as “incompatible with the democratic values and principles” of the party.

Risch, whose attendance of the event was revealed by Radio Liberty after it analysed photos of the conference, said that his trip to St. Petersburg had been a personal one and that he had only attended the event after being invited by a friend.

“When I was unexpectedly given the opportunity to speak, I expressed the need for peace in Europe and above all stated my concerns about the possible escalation of the war,” Risch said.

The conference, which was attended by around 20 far-right groups, was organised by Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev, a fierce proponent of “traditional values” who owns the ultranationalist pro-Kremlin TV channel Tsargrad, and Alexander Dugin, the chief architect of the Kremlin’s “Russian World” ideology, which was used to justify the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.