Leadership of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have taken issue with a lawmaker from the party accepting an honorary professorship at a Moscow music academy.
The lawmaker, Matthias Moosdorf, serves in the German parliament and acts as a foreign policy spokesman for the AfD.
Moosdorf, a cellist, has confirmed that he began a part-time position at the internationally renowned Moscow Gnessin Academy of Music in Russia in September.
The leader of the AfD’s parliamentary faction, Bernd Baumann, told journalists on Tuesday that he took issue with that decision.
The Russians are among the world leaders when it comes to classical music, Baumann said. But he added: “However, this also has a political component.”
“We are in talks with Mr Moosdorf,” he said, without specifying what that means in concrete terms.
“These threads are to be judged differently here than if it were simply a professorship somewhere abroad. We see a problem here and that’s where the talks are heading.”
The cellist wrote in a statement that it was above all a sign of understanding, and that music knows no ideological boundaries. He said he spent three days in Moscow in September and plans to return reguarly.
“I intend to spend several days there once a quarter teaching chamber music to ensembles,” he said. “No contracts have yet been discussed.”
Moosdorf said he is not interested in any political orientation of the Gnessin Academy, which is financed by the Russian Culture Ministry.
