Oleg Davigora21:23, 09/06/24
It is not yet clear how the CDU will resolve the dilemma of whether to cooperate with the BSW. But one thing seems certain: the Kremlin is very pleased that the debate is taking place.
Regional elections in the country’s formerly communist east saw a sharp increase in the number of Russia-friendly parties on both ends of the political spectrum on Sunday. They are already demanding that German leaders radically change their approach to relations with the Kremlin.
Among them is the left-populist Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), a new party named after its founder, a left-wing icon who began her political career as a member of the East German Communist Party. Sara Wagenknech’s party took third place in Thuringia and Saxony, writes Politico.
One of BSW’s demands after the election: Berlin must stop the US plan announced in July to deploy long-range missiles in Germany from 2026 to protect NATO territory. Soon after, Putin threatened to take “mirror measures”, accusing the US and its allies of escalating tensions.
“Many people fear that Germany will allow itself to be drawn into this war, and many also see the great danger of the US missile plans,” Wagenknecht said on German public television after regional elections.
Members of her party, which also favors ending military aid to Ukraine and peace talks with Putin, have since said they will not form a coalition with any party that supports the presence of US missiles.
“We see that this measure directly increases the risk of war for Germany, and we believe that the government of the country should really raise its voice,” BSW co-chair Amira Mohamed Ali said on German public radio.
The BSW’s position puts the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which won in Saxony and came second in Thuringia, in a difficult position.
With all parties vowing not to cooperate with the far-right and pro-Russian Alternative for Germany (AfD), despite its sharp rise in the polls, the CDU is expected to lead coalition talks. But in the new fragmented political landscape of East Germany, the CDU needs the BSW as a coalition partner.
However, such a partnership will be very problematic. CDU leaders at the national level categorically reject BSW’s position on Russia and accuse the party of being a tool of the Kremlin.
“The BSW acts as an extension of the Kremlin and goes against all the values that [our party] traditionally stands for,” said Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior CDU parliamentarian on the foreign affairs committee. “It can also be seen as part of Russia’s hybrid strategy to shape the discourse and set the agenda in Germany.”
Kiesewetter is among about 100 CDU politicians who tried to make cooperation with BSW impossible at any level by extending a party resolution banning cooperation with AfD and the Left Party to BSW as well.
But such a move would put local CDU politicians in eastern Germany in an unusual position given the prevalence of pro-Kremlin views among their constituents.
Almost 3 out of 4 East Germans do not want American missiles stationed in their country, according to a Forsa poll conducted at the end of July.
This explains why the conservative Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer of the CDU, takes views that differ from those of his party’s national leaders when it comes to Russia. In fact, he often resembles a BSW politician in this regard.
“We can no longer provide Ukraine with funds for armaments only so that these weapons are spent and yield nothing,” he told one of the German mass media on the eve of the elections. Kretschmer also called for a referendum on the issue of placing American missiles.
It is not yet clear how the CDU will resolve the dilemma of whether to cooperate with the BSW. But one thing seems certain: the Kremlin is very pleased that the debate is taking place.
The rise of Russia-friendly parties in eastern Germany was the focus of Russian state television. Election coverage on 60 Minutes, a popular Russian propaganda show, included a segment highlighting BSW’s success. According to the announcer, the party “was formed around the concept of peace.”
The party’s message, according to the program, found a response in eastern Germany, where “there is nostalgia for the socialist past and quite strong resistance to the USA and NATO.”
When one of the guests of the program wanted to analyze the results of the elections in Germany, the propagandist Yevhen Popov, also a Russian parliamentarian, intervened in a half-joking manner.
“What is there to analyze? Putin won!” he said.
(C)UNIAN 2024