German mayor's quiet visit to St. Petersburg ball sparks criticism at home

The mayor of the German city of Freiberg Sven Krüger traveled to Russia to attend the Peter's Ball, where he gave a speech praising Russia while omitting any mention of the full-scale war waged against Ukraine, German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported on Aug. 29. 

The event took place in St. Petersburg on Aug. 25. Its organizers stated that they wanted to revive the "Russian cultural code" of the old imperial tsarist times.

According to the newspaper, Krüger delivered a speech at the ball in which he spoke in favor of "good cooperation" between Berlin and Moscow. Among other things, the mayor said that he remains "optimistic," and that is why he began learning Russian last year.

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Krüger also said that Russia and Germany "will overcome the difficult times and find a way to live together again in the future."

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He told Die Zeit that he was invited to the ball by organizer Hans-Joachim Frey, who has long had close ties to Russia its and dictator, Vladimir Putin. In the spring, the Russian dictator awarded him a medal, after which Frey declared that he was "on Russia's side."

Politicians from Freiberg criticized the mayor's trip. In particular, the leader of the CDU parliamentary faction, Steve Ittershagen, said that he was "surprised, and it is unacceptable for the mayor to go on stage in Russia and interfere in international affairs."

Krüger has been the mayor of Freiberg, Saxony, home to about 40,000 people, since 2015. For a long time, he was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, but in 2018 he left the party because he disagreed with the coalition's policies.

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