Criticism of open letter
Alice Schwarzer and Anton Hofreiter rattle each other
05/02/2022 02:43 am
The debate following the open letter from Alice Schwarzer and others continues. The feminist talks about her fear of a world war, but also hears clear words from Green politician Anton Hofreiter.
Feminist Alice Schwarzer has dismissed criticism of the open letter with which she and other prominent figures warn of a third world war as a result of arms aid to Ukraine. “For the first time in my life I am seriously convinced of the danger of a new world war,” said the publicist on “Bild TV”. Help for the Ukrainians in self-defense is correct, but it is “about the very difficult drawing of a line between support for defense and the supply of weapons that Mr. Putin can understand as weapons of attack”. In the program she debated with Green politician Anton Hofreiter, who in the meantime accused her of spreading Russian propaganda.
In a letter published on Friday, Schwarzer and other celebrities such as the writer Martin Walser appealed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz not to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine, either directly or indirectly, so as not to give Russian President Vladimir Putin a motive for expanding the war to include NATO -States to give. Rather, Scholz should do everything to “ensure that a ceasefire can be reached as quickly as possible; a compromise that both sides can accept”.
Green politician Anton Hofreiter rejected this on the show: “As far as I know, the Ukrainians have offered Putin very far-reaching compromises. But Putin hasn’t accepted a single compromise. He demands the complete destruction of Ukraine, complete capitulation.” When Schwarzer said the real deal was between the US and Russia, he countered that it was “1 to 1 Russian propaganda.”
Ukrainian successes only “selective victories”?
By Monday morning, Schwarzer’s letter had been digitally signed by around 140,000 people. If the Russian leadership describes the danger of a conflict with nuclear weapons as very concrete, “then we simply have to take it seriously and weigh it up very carefully,” Schwarzer said on the talk show. At the same time, one should not overestimate Ukraine’s “admirable” military successes in defending against Putin’s troops: “Such selective victories are one thing. Bringing the world’s second nuclear power to its knees is something else.”
After the letter was published, widespread criticism quickly arose. In an interview with the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and “Stuttgarter Nachrichten”, Green Party leader Britta Haßelmann said: “Where should there be ‘compromises’ when Putin attacks a free European country in violation of international law, razes cities to the ground, kills civilians and systematically rapes as weapon is used against women?” Hofreiter said on the show: “It’s about time that we shed our arrogance, our hubris and believe the people who are directly affected.”