Kling ax near Miosga
“Who said we have to talk to the Kremlin?”
By Marko Schlichting
March 18, 2024, 5:30 a.m
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
After a speech by SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich in the Bundestag and the Chancellor’s no to Taurus deliveries, the CDU and traffic light partners are questioning the SPD’s stance on Ukraine support. SPD leader Klingbeil lacks respect for the Chancellor and says: Mützenich was deliberately misinterpreted.
A speech in the Bundestag by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich stirs up people’s minds. “It’s time that we not only talk about how to fight a war, but also think about how to freeze a war and then end it later,” he said. Mützenich called for the war in Ukraine to be frozen, it is said. But that’s not true, says SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil on Caren Miosga on ARD.
Common characters
He saw that no member of the FDP or the Greens applauded. “This shows that the situation we are currently in is incredibly controversial,” says Klingbeil, who spends a large part of the program dealing with Mützenich’s speech. It certainly also shows that the SPD parliamentary group leader’s statements are controversial. There are also different opinions in the coalition about how one should behave in the current war situation. That annoys him, says Klingbeil. Since the beginning of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which violates international law, the traffic light coalition has taken many steps together, including with the Union parties. “And it is also important that we send a joint signal to the global community, a joint signal to Ukraine and, ultimately, a joint signal to Vladimir Putin that we stand together.”
He cannot say why others do not accept when Chancellor Scholz has made a decision, said Klingbeil, with a view to the current discussions in the traffic light coalition. It is the legitimate right of the Chancellor to make the decision not to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. Scholz made the decision after many discussions. “And I think that if a Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany makes this decision, then one should treat it with respect and accept it.”
Miosga wants to know from Klingbeil whether he is in favor of freezing the war in Ukraine. Neither Rolf Mützenich, the Federal Chancellor nor the SPD wanted to move away from Ukraine, the politician emphasizes. “This is a deliberate misinterpretation of this speech. He said very clearly: We are on the side of Ukraine, he spoke out very clearly in favor of arms deliveries, he also made it very clear how important it is that we in society have the support that other countries don’t have.” And in the end, it was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself who was talking about peace conferences. No one could answer the question of why it shouldn’t be possible to talk about possibilities for peace.
Caren Miosga at least tries. She plays an excerpt from an interview from Russian television in which President Putin rejects peace negotiations.
“Who said we have to talk to the Kremlin?” asks Klingbeil. This year there could be peace conferences at which people will discuss the topic. Such a conference is currently being prepared in Switzerland. And perhaps Russia could be invited to join in at some point. Klingbeil: “So there is talk about whether peace can be created. People also expect us to talk about it. But nothing of what Rolf Mützenich said, nothing of what the SPD stands for, indicates that we are deciding on the heads of Ukraine.”
What is important now: “That we do more, that we produce ammunition and that we ensure that the air defense in Ukraine is strengthened.”
Traffic light dispute and economic crisis
In addition to the war in Ukraine, there is another general problem for the SPD: the SPD and its standing in the traffic light coalition. In fact, many former SPD voters are dissatisfied with the party and the federal government. There’s a lot going on, says Klingbeil. He’s certainly not wrong about that. Hardly any government has ever had as many problems as the current one. The traffic light coalition made many good decisions in the first year, said Klingbeil. They got the energy shortage under control and put together three relief packages to deal with inflation. But then the dispute arose over the heating law and basic child welfare. “That cost trust,” says the SPD leader.
Klingbeil promises: He will do everything to ensure that the situation in Germany improves again. “Because I believe that the tasks that we have to accomplish, the economic situation, the question of how to actually bring people, who I call the working middle, back more into the center of political decisions, that is the challenge.”