"We certainly do not agree with any such ideas or attempts to undermine democracy in this country," Metropolitan Mark said.
On Wednesday, the German Prosecutor General's Office said the police arrested 22 members and three supporters of an alleged terrorist organization that was plotting to overthrow the existing German government. Former German lawmaker and member of the AfD Birgit Malsack-Winkemann was among those arrested.
According to reports, the ex-lawmaker was supposed to become the justice minister following the coup. AfD leaders Alice Wiedel and Tino Chrupalla condemned the coup plans, saying they "completely trust" the authorities in their investigation.
Metropolitan Mark (secular name Michael Arndt) was born in 1941 in Chemnitz, Germany. He was baptized into Russian Orthodox Christianity in 1964.
He expressed confidence that the coup attempt was prepared by a small group of people who have no support among the country’s population.
"It is a marginal group. Usually these things in Germany are blown up by the media because of our past, the time of Hitler. But nobody here is seriously interested in reviving anything similar," Mark said.
On Wednesday, Der Spiegel reported that an extremist organization was planning to take control of the Bundestag and arrest its members. This act was supposed to spark riots all over the country and lead to the creation of a transition military government under Heinrich XIII Prince of Reuss, a 71-year-old German nobleman.
This government would have started negotiations on Germany’s place in the world with the victors of the World War II, namely Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and France. The German police confiscated pistols, swords, helmets and gold from the arrested extremists, according to local media.