The Green Party's foreign policy spokeswoman has no doubt that the AfD will use the process politically. “AfD and BSW use every opportunity to create apparent scandals in order to raise the question of support for Ukraine,” says Deborah Düring.
Just last week, the AfD had a current hour scheduled in the Bundestag. Because Chancellor Friedrich Merz traveled to Ukraine on the evening of German Unity Day. “To his true emotional home,” as the AfD parliamentary group’s foreign policy spokesman, Markus Frohnmaier, provocatively called it. "He had his billions in his luggage. One billion euros in new military aid and 350 million for the Ukrainian energy infrastructure."
AfD and BSW call for punitive measures against Ukraine
The AfD argues that the money is urgently needed in Germany: for schools, for infrastructure, to relieve the burden on social security funds. And the party is convinced that it should not flow to a country that caused significant economic damage by blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines.
The AfD and BSW are therefore not only pushing for a stop to the billion-dollar support for Ukraine, but also for damages and punitive measures. Finally, argues AfD politician Frohnmaier, the federal government did not hesitate to impose sanctions against Russia while the investigation was still underway in the case of the failed drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Who has double standards?
While the AfD speaks of double standards on the part of the federal government, the Greens accuse the AfD of having double standards themselves. Whenever it comes to Ukraine and the question of responsibility for blowing up three of the four gas pipes. It is important to her, says Green MP Düring, "that at the same time we talk about the massive war crimes on the Russian side that happen every day and where Russia even protects perpetrators and does not take part in dealing with them."
Proponents of support for Ukraine, such as SPD MP Daniel Baldy, repeatedly point to a central point: that it was Russia that started the war against Ukraine. In addition, the Russian president repeatedly explains that it is not just a war against Ukraine, but the "Western way of life" and that it goes much further.
For Baldy, it's important to see the whole picture. He recalls that even before the attack there was no longer a secure gas supply from Russia. For technical reasons, as the Kremlin stated at the time.
Legal processing necessary
It's not just the Social Democrat who thinks it's right that the case is being processed legally without taking political sensitivities into account. If, as the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office puts it in its statement of claim, it turns out that Ukrainian state authorities knew about the attack or controlled it, this would also have consequences. But, Baldy emphasizes, at the right time: "If we now refuse to support Ukraine, then that will only play into the hands of one person and that is Putin - that is the AfD, which wants that."
Stopping aid to Ukraine would help Russia win. Green Party politician Düring is convinced that this would encourage Putin to continue elsewhere. Which would lead to new wars, insecurities and more instability in Europe.
The successes of the AfD and BSW show a need for explanation
From Düring's point of view, the fact that the AfD and BSW were able to score points with voters in the state elections with their calls for a different Ukraine and Russia policy shows how great the need for explanation is. Chancellor Friedrich Merz also seems to have recognized this.
It was noticeable that in his speech on the occasion of the awarding of the Westphalian Peace Prize he tried to explain the Federal Government's Russia and Ukraine policy in a more nuanced and detailed manner than usual. The federal government, he emphasized, among other things, is dealing with the accusation that German aid to Ukraine comes at the expense of prosperity in Germany. "My answer is: our support for Ukraine is not an end in itself." It's about Germany's security. And Europe.
Mood changes
From the Greens' perspective, there is no reason to play off security and social issues against each other. They refer to the special funds. And that a large part of security and defense spending has been excluded from the debt brake. There is enough financial scope for both.
Nevertheless, the number of doubters seems to be growing. Even in the corridors of parliament there is vague talk of crumbling support for Ukraine. A development that could be fueled by the Nord Stream process.
