AfD representative Olga Petersen from Harburg has been missing with her children since June and apparently has not returned to Hamburg. This is despite her assurance to the newspaper “Hamburger Morgenpost” in early June that she would continue to exercise her parliamentary mandate and her Harburg district mandate.
As Olga Petersen (41) faces high fines because her school-age children have not been attending classes since then, she has now made contact. It is considered highly likely that Petersen is in Russia, but even the authorities don’t know for certain.
According to information from the newspaper “Hamburger Morgenpost” (“MOPO”), Petersen has since contacted the school authorities and stated that she is in Russia with the children. This is plausible, as she is a strong Putin supporter. She came to Hamburg at the age of 16 with her parents from Omsk (Siberia).
As three of her four children are of compulsory school age in Hamburg, Olga Petersen is obligated, like other parents, to prove that they are now being schooled elsewhere. Simple assurances by phone or in writing are not sufficient; the authorities require official proof in such cases. This includes documentation from the new schools, plus flight tickets and visas.
In Petersen’s case, there was reportedly an extension for providing this evidence because it’s currently holiday season in Russia, making it difficult to organize official certificates.
If the proof is not provided after the deadline, a substantial fine for each of the three children would be imposed. The amount is based on the mother’s income.
Petersen is critical of Hamburg’s schools. On Instagram, she writes that she experiences daily how her four children are “indoctrinated” in school and kindergarten. Her daughter thinks “diesel destroys the world,” her son brings a list of “allowed” bread toppings from school, and her ten-year-old daughter is unsettled by early sexual education.
At least one son was reportedly perceived as somewhat neglected at school. There were several conversations with the mother because of suspicions that the children were inadequately cared for during one of the mother’s trips to Russia. The son also reportedly told the school that he now had to learn Russian because the family was emigrating there.
As the AfD has initiated expulsion proceedings against Petersen, no one in the party knows where she is currently or what she’s planning. The AfD in the Harburg district also has no contact with her. They were not surprised that she didn’t appear at the constituent meeting of the district assembly on Tuesday.
AfD stands for “Alternative für Deutschland” (Alternative for Germany), which is a right-wing to far-right political party in Germany. Olga Petersen was expelled from the AfD faction in May, and party expulsion proceedings are underway against her. She is accused of behavior damaging to the party because of her close stance to Putin and her downplaying of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. She had previously praised elections in Russia as “free and fair” during a trip there.
In a lengthy statement to “MOPO” in early June, Olga Petersen defended her position: The Hamburg AfD is considered “corrupt and Russophobic” even internally. She had hoped to bring “fresh air” to the Hamburg state association herself. She claimed her own position towards Russia was “advantageous for Germany.”
