The Saxon CDU Prime Minister Kretschmer has to take harsh criticism for “disgusting” statements about the Ukraine war. Now he’s getting approval, of all things from left-wing politician Wagenknecht and AFD boss Chrupalla.
In the dispute over how to deal with Russia and the economic consequences of the Ukraine war, Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has the backing of left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht. The CDU politician had declared that Germany must mediate and ensure “that this war is frozen.” Russian raw materials are still needed. Wagenknecht told the German Press Agency: “Kretschmer is right on this point.” The head of the right-wing AfD, Tino Chrupalla, also welcomed Kretschmer’s line.
The Saxon head of government had received severe criticism for his statements. The Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk wrote on Twitter: “Your constant pandering to the war criminal Putin is disgusting.” Kretschmer had emphasized that the Russian war against Ukraine was a crime and that Ukraine should not give up territories. But the CDU politician said with regard to Russian raw materials: “I am firmly convinced that we need these raw material supplies.”
Wagenknecht argued similarly: “Russian raw materials and, above all, the relatively cheap Russian energy are the existential conditions for a competitive German industry that we cannot do without”.
“The economic war is ruining Germany, while it hardly harms Putin and does not end the dying in Ukraine,” emphasized the left-wing politician. Ukraine cannot win the war against nuclear power Russia militarily, Wagenknecht added. That’s why negotiations have to take place “and compromises have to be made”.
AfD boss Chrupalla said that CDU politician Kretschmer swung to the AfD line: “This is the only way he can make his party capable of forming a coalition with us for the 2024 state elections.” Chrupalla, who came from Saxony, demanded that the Ukraine war be ended through diplomacy. “Otherwise the sanctions regime with its catastrophic consequences for our prosperity will never end.”
East Germany is particularly affected by the economic consequences of the war and by the European oil embargo against Russia. For decades, the two large refineries Schwedt in Brandenburg and Leuna in Saxony-Anhalt received Russian oil via the “Druschba” pipeline. Leuna has already found alternatives to oil from Russia, and some are still being sought for Schwedt.
In a letter to Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck on Tuesday, the economic policy spokesman for the East German CDU parliamentary groups in the state parliament called for Russian oil to continue to be used for Schwedt in the future. They warned of a multi-year recession in the East and dwindling popular support. “What has been painstakingly built up and stabilized over the past 30 years after reunification will no longer be salvageable if the federal government sticks to its previous political line of ideologically shaped energy policy,” the letter says.
