Wolfgang Kubicki “praises” Recep Erdogan as sewer rat. And Robert Habeck, Kubicki is certain, is driven by a competition with Annalena Baerbock.
Hamburg – The program begins with a situation in which it is initially not entirely clear whether you can laugh about it or whether it is too serious for that. When Markus Lanz asked Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) what his relationship with Recep Tayyip Erdogan was like, Kubicki answered factually: “As before. We don’t talk to each other.” The background to Lanz’s question: During an election campaign, Kubicki described the Turkish head of state as a “little sewer rat”.
Kubicki defends this in two different ways. First of all because of the situation: “It’s just an election campaign. I stand there for an hour on stage and something slips out that wasn’t meant to be.” On the other hand, but also with what he now says are the positive characteristics of the rat: “It’s adaptable, intelligent and resilient.” FAZ-Journalist Helene Bubrowski almost falls off her chair. “So the truth is, it’s not an insult, it’s a compliment?” she asks, laughing.
Markus Lanz – these guests will be discussing on May 16 with:
- Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) – Politician
- Helen Bubrowski – Journalist (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)
- Petra Pinzler – Journalist (Die Zeit)
- Carolina Drueten – Türkiye expert
In any case, the situation on the Bosporus was not viewed as amusing. Erdogan summoned the German ambassador and filed criminal charges against Kubicki in Germany. However, the process was discontinued.
Bubrowski then tries to draw lessons from the relationship with Russia in order to learn from them for dealing with Turkey and Erdogan. The guests agree that Erdogan will win the upcoming runoff against Kilicdaroglu. “The lesson from the failure of the previous German governments in Russia must be that there is no point in being cowardly. Just not provoking anyone, just not angering anyone, that has domestic political damage, that has economic and political damage,” says Bubrowski.
FAZ journalist Bubrowski calls for Markus Lanz to have a clear edge against Erdogan
Her suggestion: “Autocrats, including Erdogan in my opinion, only accept the language of strength. It doesn’t just have to be military strength, it can also be diplomatic strength and a decisive presence. You shouldn’t think you’re going to bring about change through a course of pandering, that didn’t work. These experiences could not have been more impressive than with Russia.”
Of course, Markus Lanz also invites a guest like Kubicki to talk about the FDP. At the same time, Kubicki is really kicking ass, announcing that they want to get a double-digit percentage of the votes again in the next federal election. Interesting sentence from the 71-year-old: “We are in the process of improving our performance.” When Lanz talks about migration policy and the liberals’ approaches to finding a solution, Kubicki wants on the one hand “controlled immigration of skilled workers” and “if necessary, border security fences”. Lanz frowns and asks: “Why do you duck away from the subject and push around?”
Government scolding from Lanz – Bubrowski contradicts
Petra Pinzler takes the same line. She points out the curiosity that after the so-called refugee summit, the countries had been promised one billion euros and were still dissatisfied. Pinzler sees this as a failure on the part of the federal government. Lanz nods and says: “Migration is so much more than a bed and a roof over your head.” reflecting political debate. I can’t subscribe to the ducking away thing like that.”
But this is not the only difference of opinion. Caroline Drüten criticizes Kubicki for his statement on securing the external borders: “If you say you have to protect the external border – it’s not open. The problem is that we don’t have a proper distribution mechanism within Europe.” Lanz smiles as if he knew exactly what Driiten intended to say – he agrees: “I mean that by honest debate. I totally miss them.”
Kubicki: Habeck would have liked to keep the nuclear power plants running
In recent months, Wolfang Kubicki has hardly given a good hair to Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens). However, Kubicki puts this into perspective with Lanz and instead shows understanding for Habeck’s conflict: “He is in an internal competition with Annalena Baerbock. That’s why he has to take into account currents that he would not previously have cared about. If only Robert Habeck had had his way, we would have kept the nuclear power plants running until at least the end of 2024 and then we would have shut them down – for safety reasons.”
It also becomes interesting when Kubicki is asked about the plans from the Ministry of Economic Affairs regarding the heat pump. You can tell that the topic does not leave the lawyer cold. Kubicki initially aims at the wording of the coalition agreement. There is not a word about “heat pump” or “electric only”. But Lanz digs further and confronts his guest with the fact that the FDP has portrayed Habeck as “Satan with the heat pump”. Kubicki vehemently contradicts this and promises on the other hand that the building energy law will look different than it is currently planned.
Markus Lanz – The conclusion of the show:
Wolfgang Kubicki has always provided great entertainment value. Like few politicians, he knows how to enrich all topics with a dose of humor. It is valuable for the show, however, that the politician has a few opponents who get him to get involved with migration policy and the building energy law. This creates interesting and lively discussions. (Christoph Heuser)
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