How 'Putin's friends' are coming to power in Eastern Germany
The September elections in two states of East Germany, Thuringia and Saxony, brought the expected sensation.
For the first time in modern German history, the winners of the state elections are the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose ideology borders on neo-Nazism.
This forced the rest of the German parties to unite to prevent AfD from forming state governments. Thus, the far-right will likely be left without executive levers.
However, challenges have not diminished, as coalitions will likely have to be formed with another pro-Kremlin party.
Ream more about the complex political situation in several eastern states of Germany after the local elections and the consequences for Ukraine in the article by Viktor Berezenko, founder of the Institute of Global Transformation – Germany is getting used to new friends of Putin. Why pro-Russian Sahra Wagenknecht is taken into the coalition.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a center-right party, has taken on the task of forming coalitions in Thuringia and Saxony, where they secured first and second place, respectively.
The center-right found themselves facing a difficult choice: it was practically impossible to gather a majority without the participation of pro-Kremlin parties.
Considering that key parties deemed a coalition with AfD impossible even at the regional level, attention turned to the openly pro-Kremlin Alliance for Sara Wagenknecht (DSW).
In Thuringia and Saxony, the Christian Democratic Union had to start negotiations with the AWS and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), aiming to limit the influence of the far-right. The formation of state governments by these three parties seems like an option. Sara Wagenknecht also expressed support for such a coalition.
However, there is currently no clear agreement in either of the states. Negotiations are ongoing.
It would seem that Alternative for Germany and the Alliance for Sahra Wagenknecht should be ideologically opposite political forces. AfD is ultra-nationalist, belonging to the far-right, while DSW is far-left. One of the main differences is that AfD, unlike the far-left, already has a reputation for being "too radical" and toxic.
However, they share much in common.
Both parties propose leaving Ukraine without military aid from Germany. AfD claims that supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine only fuels the conflict and even explicitly considers Ukraine a "legitimate" zone of Russian interests. BSW makes similar statements, calling for peaceful negotiations through reduced arms supplies. Sahra Wagenknecht also opposes the deployment of US missiles on German territory.
This, incidentally, complicates negotiations for the government of the eastern states – it is not excluded that BSW will demand to include these provisions as fundamental for the party in the coalition agreement. But even if the state branch of the CDU and SPD are ready for certain concessions, this could lead to a scandal at the national level, as both traditional parties in the Bundestag support Ukraine.
It is too early to say whether the coalition search in Thuringia and Saxony will cause a scandal at the national level over the issue of aid to Ukraine.
However, the consequences of this coalition will be keenly felt for Ukraine, whose fate depends on the allies, especially Germany.
Why is eastern Germany becoming a stronghold of radicals?
A large portion of citizens there feels economic dissatisfaction. This part of Germany was once under the protectorate of the USSR, and economic development there is still lower than in the western part of the country, with its residents feeling like "second class" compared to Western Germans.
Essentially, AfD and BSW have become a kind of East German protest parties against wealthy Western Germany.