Can you just freeze the Ukraine war? “No, because Putin only understands the language of strength,” says Bernd Althusmann. In the FOCUS online interview, the Lower Saxony Economics Minister and CDU top candidate for the state elections accounts for the hesitant arms deliveries at the traffic lights.
FOCUS online: Do you actually understand your party colleague Michael Kretschmer, who suggested “freezing” the Ukraine war? Do you think the federal government should play a mediating role in possible peace negotiations?
Bernd Althusmann: My impression is that attempts have been made at various national and international levels to end this war as quickly as possible. This war benefits no one and is a crime by Russia against humanity. We are all united by the most pressing wish that this war will end and that Russia will withdraw to its territory. That would be in everyone’s interest.
Only: You can’t just freeze a conflict like this. Obviously, Putin, the aggressor, is not just concerned with occupying Ukraine. Rather, it forces competition between the systems. Putin wants to seal off his dictatorial system from the spread of free, democratic basic values.
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In addition, peace is not only the absence of war, but in this case presupposes that Russia gives in. We mustn’t waver, Putin only understands one language, that of strength. That’s why I continue to rely on tough sanctions. We see that they work. The Russian economy is being hit more and more, economic power has collapsed by more than 10 percent.
What about arms deliveries to Ukraine? How do you rate what has been promised by the traffic light so far – and what has actually been achieved?
Althusmann: I was just at Rheinmetall in Unterlüß. Do you know what I found there? 30 armored personnel carriers are ready and fully operational for export. This begs the question: why aren’t the tanks already on their way to the Ukraine, be it directly or through an exchange of rings? The answer on the spot left me stunned: the necessary signatures for delivery were missing. The Chancellery is on the brakes.
I don’t understand that at all. It gives the impression that the federal government is counting on the war going on for many months, if not years, and disappearing from media awareness. In any case, real solidarity with Ukraine looks different.
You are in a coalition with the SPD, whose representatives, especially in Lower Saxony, have maintained very close contacts with Russia and the Kremlin: Has your coalition partner used the past few weeks sufficiently to distance yourself from Gerhard Schröder, for example?
Althusmann: Lower Saxony’s SPD must clarify its relationship with Russia. In the case of the so-called Russia connection, many references repeatedly lead to the center of the SPD in Lower Saxony. Parts of the SPD have rightly distanced themselves and also admitted misjudgments.
Nevertheless, it remains absurd for me that a former chancellor goes on ‘holiday’ to Moscow during wartime and that the SPD does not have the strength to finally show its former chairman the limits. Most people in Germany rightly have no understanding for this.
You are facing an election, but as a party you are behind in the polls. In a 1:1 comparison with Prime Minister Weil you are doing even worse. What’s your plan to lead the government?
Althusmann: The surveys of the last few weeks have been very changeable. Sometimes the CDU was ahead, sometimes the SPD. I honestly think it’s going to be a neck-and-neck race. The elections are likely to be decided in the last two to three weeks before October 9th. And we’ve seen elsewhere how the CDU can win in the last few meters – in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, with Hendrik Wüst. In any case, I am optimistic that the CDU will become the strongest force in Lower Saxony.
And then? As Prime Minister, what do you want to do differently than Mr. Weil?
Althusmann: I have ambitious design requirements. Lower Saxony’s potential is far from exhausted. For Mr. Weil, on the other hand, it would be the third term of office, which is usually the weakest. He has already announced that he intends to retire afterwards. In my opinion, this can take place earlier, namely from 9 October.
In my eyes, the SPD and Mr. Weil are exhausted and somehow only rely on “keep it up”. You no longer have a claim to design. Lower Saxony has enormous potential. This country plays a key role in all upcoming challenges of our future: in renewable energies, as a country of the hydrogen economy, new and innovative forms of mobility, in the aviation and maritime industries, in agriculture or life sciences and biotechnology.
I would like to make Lower Saxony a state of opportunity. “Keep it up” is just not enough for me. The Lower Saxony usually have a good feeling for a sensible balance between majorities in the federal and state governments. Red-green is past and out.
