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Birgit Bessin

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Birgit Bessin
Bessin in 2016
Assumed office
25 March 2025
Preceded byHannes Walter
Member of the Landtag of Brandenburg
In office
8 October 2014 – 9 April 2025
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byMarlon Deter
ConstituencyState list (2014–2024)
Oberspreewald-Lausitz I
(2024–2025)
Personal details
Born (1978-03-26) 26 March 1978 (age 48)
Worms, West Germany
PartyAlternative for Germany
(since 2013)
Children1
EducationFree University of Berlin
Websitebirgit-bessin.com

Birgit Irene Bessin (born 26 March 1978) is a German politician serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2025 federal election.[1] She previously served as a member of the Landtag of Brandenburg from 2014 to 2025.[2]

Career

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After receiving her Abitur, Bessin studied jurisprudence at the Free University of Berlin from 1997 to 2007. In 2013 she graduated from the Europäische Fernhochschule Hamburg [de] with a Bachelor of Laws.[3]

She joined Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2013.[3] In 2015, she signed the Erfurt Resolution, the founding document of AfD's Der Flügel faction.[4][5] She was elected the AfD Brandenburg chairwoman in 2022 following Andreas Kalbitz's expulsion.[6][7] She announced in 2024 that she would resign and not run for re-election, as she wanted to "put the party first" and avoid a "power struggle" between her and René Springer, who at the time was serving as deputy chairman.[8] Springer replaced her as chairman.[9]

In the 2024 Brandenburg state election, she received 44.3% of the vote in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz I constituency.[10][11] She was elected to the Bundestag in the 2025 German federal election, representing the Elbe-Elster – Oberspreewald-Lausitz constituency after gaining 40.9% of the vote.[12] Since June 2025, she has been a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe as part of the European Conservatives, Patriots & Affiliates political group.[13]

On 11 September 2025, she and a group of constituents visited the Russian embassy in Berlin, paid for by funds from the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government [de]. Members of the Bundestag are allowed to invite up to three groups of visitors with a maximum of 50 constituents.[14] As the visit came a day after the 2025 Russian drone incursion into Poland, MdB Knut Abraham of the Christian Democratic Union stated that the visit was "nothing short of intentional support of the war."[15]

Views

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She expressed her support for the far-right movement Pegida at a 2019 AfD convention in Brandenburg.[16]

Personal life

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As of 2025, she lives in Rangsdorf.[17]

References

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  1. ↑ "Birgit Bessin (AfD) gewinnt Wahlkreis 65 - das ist ihr Vorsprung". Lausitzer Rundschau (in German). 23 February 2025.
  2. ↑ "Birgit Bessin" (in German). Landtag of Brandenburg.
  3. 1 2 "Bessin, Birgit" (in German). Landtag of Brandenburg. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  4. ↑ "Birgit Bessin: bewegungsnah und rechtsextrem". Aktionsbündnis Brandenburg (in German). 14 February 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Hensen, Lea (25 March 2025). "AfD-Fraktion: So umstritten sind die neuen Abgeordneten". Vorwärts (in German). Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  6. ↑ Lassiwe, Benjamin (9 April 2022). "Nachfolge von Andreas Kalbitz: Birgit Bessin ist neue AfD-Landesvorsitzende in Brandenburg". Tagesspiegel (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  7. ↑ "AfD Brandenburg wählt Bessin zur Nachfolgerin von Kalbitz". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 9 April 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  8. ↑ "AfD-Parteitag wählt neue Spitze: Birgit Bessin tritt nicht mehr an". Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 16 March 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  9. ↑ "Parteien: AfD-Landeschefin lässt erneute Kandidatur offen". Die Zeit (in German). 16 March 2024. ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  10. ↑ "Wahlkreis 38 - Oberspreewald-Lausitz I". rbb24.de (in German). 23 September 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "Oberspreewald-Lausitz I (38)". tagesschau (in German). Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  12. ↑ "Bundestagswahl Deutschland 2025 im Wahlkreis Elbe-Elster – Oberspreewald-Lausitz". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 22 February 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Ms Birgit BESSIN (Germany, ECPA)". Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  14. ↑ Wienand, Lars (20 September 2025). "Deutschland zahlt, Russland empfängt: AfD-Politikerin lädt Bürger in Botschaft". t-online (in German). Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  15. ↑ "AfD-Bundestagsabgeordnete führt Wahlkreisgruppe in russische Botschaft". Die Welt (in German). 21 September 2025. Retrieved 16 October 2026.
  16. ↑ Kamenova, Valeriya (July 2024). "The road to European parliament mandate for populist radical-right parties: Selecting the 'perfect' AfD candidate". Party Politics. 30 (4): 685. doi:10.1177/13540688231173804. eISSN 1460-3683. I don't see the AfD as a pure parliamentary party… I rely on our independent citizens' movements. I stand by PEGIDA. I stand by Zukunft Heimat in Cottbus, which has made significant contribution to the fact that the South [Brandenburg] has become strong.
  17. ↑ Augustin, Jan (16 December 2024). "Bundestagswahl 2025: Birgit Bessin ist Direktkandidatin der AfD in OSL und Elbe-Elster". Lausitzer Rundschau (in German). Retrieved 16 October 2026.
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