Election of Chechen woman as Bundestag member provokes disputes on Instagram

Compatriots should be proud of the Bela Bach, who became the first Chechen woman among members of the German parliament, some users of the social network suggest. Bela Bach was born in Europe, and therefore she has no relation to the Chechen Republic, their opponents object.

Since 2015, 29-year-old Bela Bach (Bakhaeva), a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, headed the party's branch in Munich and twice ran for a seat at the Bundestag. In early February, Bela Bach became a member of the German parliament.

Bela Bach was born in Germany, where her parents moved from Chechnya in 1990. She studied law and became the first Chechen woman in the history of the Bundestag who became its member.

On February 16, messages under the heading "Chechen woman becomes a member of the German parliament" were posted on the Instagram public accounts "Chechnya Life" and "eldit_net".

Some users of social networks have expressed their pride over the achievement of the young woman. "May Allah help her. Such people are the pride of our Chechnya," wrote, in particular, user liliya_07_12_19.

Other commentators questioned the fact that Bela Bach, who was born in Germany, can be associated with the Chechen Republic. "She is the same Chechen woman as I am a Russian man," wrote, in particular, user abdulubek. "If she does not have national Chechen identity, then we cannot treat her as a Chechen native," user as_medagov shared his doubt.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 17, 2020 at 11:31 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.