The appeal was published in the Friday edition of the daily “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ). Its authors are Dietmar Woidke, prime minister Brandenburg, Michael Kretschmer, Prime Minister of Saxony, and Mario Voigt, chairman of the CDU in Thuringia. In the pages newspapers politicians they jointly call for an international alliance to bring Russia to the negotiating table.
German politicians also write about Poland
They write that “East Germans' love for freedom exploded on June 17, 1953,” when people took to the streets to protest against the dictatorship of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and Soviet tanks. The desire for freedom culminated in 1989 and the subsequent reunification, “the greatest miracle in German history.”
“Without the Poles' fight for freedom and the support of the US, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France and other partners, reunification would not have been possible – nor without Germany's solid credibility in the world (…) After 1990, our country benefited from the peace dividend, when we knew that we are surrounded only by friends,” politicians write.
Stop further bloodshed
According to the authors of the letter attack Russia to Ukraine made the defense of freedom take on a new meaning. They remind that the violation of Ukraine's sovereignty began in 2014 on the orders of Vladimir Putin. “We want an end to the human suffering caused by this devastating war and we support a ceasefire and negotiations in accordance with the United Nations Charter and in the spirit of the Budapest Memorandum between Ukraine and Russia in order to avoid further bloodshed and destruction,” we read in the letter published in FAZ.
As politicians write, “a strong and united alliance is needed to bring Russia to the negotiating table.” According to Kretschmer, Woidke and Voigt, Germany and the EU have so far been too hesitant in this regard. “The broader the international alliance, the greater the pressure. The goal is to achieve a ceasefire and offer Ukraine credible security guarantees. Our economic strength can also be a lever here,” the authors say.
Germany as a mediator. The role of Poland in the common security policy
Politicians emphasize that Germany should become more involved as a mediator: “We want Germany to play a more active diplomatic role in close coordination with its European neighbors and partners.” At the same time, representatives of Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia believe that defense capabilities should be strengthened. However, they criticize that plans to deploy American medium-range missiles in western Germany should be better explained to the public.
Kretschmer, Woidke and Voigt also write about the role of Poland and the Baltic countries in the common security policy. “We, Germans, would do well to listen to our eastern partners, such as Poland and the Baltic countries, on these fundamental issues of security and peace. Our task, also as state politicians, is to defend and stand up for this freedom and this order. None national political cooperation will not change this. There is no freedom without security,” the politicians conclude their appeal.
“Buying into the favor of BSW”
The letter from the prime ministers of Saxony and Brandenburg and the leader of the CDU from Thuringia criticized the Bild daily, calling it “an embarrassing call for peace from the CDU and SPD.” The newspaper suggests that in this way representatives of both parties are trying to curry favor with Sahra Wagenknecht, the head of the BSW party she founded. “This is exactly what the Wagenknecht party, which is currently conducting coalition negotiations with the CDU and SPD in three eastern German states, wants. The founder of the party and former leader of the Left Party regularly causes outrage by justifying and accusing the war of aggression in Ukraine waged by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, which has been going on since almost three years,” writes “Bild” in its online edition.
As the tabloid daily notes, the essence of the appeal is a call for a ceasefire and negotiations “in accordance with the United Nations Charter.” It defines the basic pillars of international law – such as the prohibition of attacking states or taking their territory by force. “In other words, exactly what Russia is doing in Ukraine is prohibited by the UN Charter!” – we read.
“Shameful” appeal
The daily quotes international law expert prof. Christian Tietje from the University of Halle, who explains that negotiations can only take place “if the West gives Ukrainian territories to Russia,” because negotiations “in which Putin withdraws completely are not realistic.” Prof. Tietje calls the “appeal a contradiction in terms” and says that “Such a peace treaty is invalid if it is concluded under the threat of the use of force. And this is the case when Russia threatens to continue the war.” As “Bild” comments: the request of the authors of the letter is unrealistic and legally impossible. “A pure maneuver to come to power in three eastern federal states with the help of Wagenknecht. Considering Ukraine, it is shameful…” – sums up the daily.
The article comes from the website Deutsche Welle.