In Germany, the parties sympathetic to Russia question the sanctions and the support for Ukraine – and the traditional foreign policy of Germany as a whole.
in Germany the foreign policy choices ahead have rarely been discussed as fiercely as now. After German reunification in the early 1990s, Europe's largest country and strongest economy has relied on European and transatlantic relations and anchored Germany even more firmly in the European Union and NATO. In practice, this has meant the outsourcing of Germany's security to NATO, little investment in defense and a focus on strengthening Germany's economic power.
After World War II, Germany has sought to deepen and expand European integration through compromises with other European countries. The German economy is largely dependent on the integration of Europe and the easy access of the products of the EU countries to the world market. Dependence has only increased when you can no longer get cheap energy from Russia.
Germany's however, the party system is changing. New radical parties are now questioning the post-war consensus. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) talks about leaving the EU and ending support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, and demands a drastic change in climate policy. The AfD's support has risen to around 20%, and in some states of eastern Germany already almost 30%.
After its founding in the 2010s, AfD supported NATO and the United States, but the situation has changed. As the investigative journalism publication Correctiv has reported, in recent years, AfD politicians have echoed Russian perspectives and rhetoric and spoken of the United States as a “foreign power.” During the war in Ukraine, AfD politicians have visited Russia and Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine. Recently, the AfD included in its party program the idea of a “multipolar world” fostered by Russia and China.
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No party has been as strongly on the Kremlin's line.
No party in the Federal Republic has been so strongly aligned with the Kremlin before. In its relations with Russia, the AfD also differs from many other European right-wing parties: in Finland and Sweden, for example, they have a much stricter attitude towards Russia. Italy's right-wing nationalist prime minister Giorgia Meloni has openly sided with Ukraine and criticized the AfD's connections to Russia.
Also Sahra Wagenknecht founded new radical party BSW gets double-digit support readings in the polls.
Wagenknecht, who used to be a prominent figure in Germany's far-left Die Linke party, demands the immediate start of “peace talks” Vladimir Putin with and restarting the import of cheap Russian energy. Wagenknecht is mostly silent about Russia's war of aggression and the war crimes committed in Ukraine.
For now Germany is committed to supporting Ukraine. Although the current government has been criticized for delaying arms deliveries, it recently set aside seven billion euros to help Ukraine. Germany now has more than half of the EU's aid on its shoulders, even though the country's share of the EU's gross domestic product is only a quarter.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz however, has made it clear that others need to step up their efforts. The need is increased by the fact that Donald Trump's the return to the presidency of the United States could reduce the support coming from across the Atlantic to Ukraine. Germany cannot afford to weaken its commitment to Europe, but it also needs to invest billions in digitization, the green transition, defense forces, transport infrastructure and education.
June the European Parliament elections tell where Germany is going. Moderate forces should understandably tell how dangerous protest votes going to extremists can now be.
Scholz recently warned that “nationalists act against the national interest.” Now, when Germany and Europe have to adapt to a new geopolitical environment, the danger is real.
Daniela Schwarzer is a German researcher of politics and international relations.
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