Enlarge image
Former Federal President Gauck during an appearance in January
Photo: Christian Charisius / dpa
Former Federal President Joachim Gauck has appealed to the CDU to revise its decision of incompatibility with the Left Party. "The AfD can get us into trouble in the East," Gauck told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) with a view to the upcoming state elections. »In Thuringia or Saxony it could happen that in order to defend against an AfD government, parties that do not belong together at all have to come together. You can’t wish for that, but it can happen.”
The former head of the Stasi records authority continued that he was not suspected of being a lover of the left. But a majority in the party defends democracy. "If the CDU has once made an incompatibility decision, such a decision can also be revised under new political aspects and in a new problem situation."
Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) has shown that the Left has become compatible there, said Gauck. "New coalitions will form that we will have to get used to." Gauck called the new Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) alliance a party of left-wing populists with a pro-Putin policy.
The former Federal President also spoke out in favor of more support from Germany for Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia: “We are not at the end of our possibilities. Germany can do even more." It is true that Germany supports Ukraine more than neighboring European states do. "But measured in terms of economic performance and population size, the contribution of the Baltic countries is higher."
"Anyone who thinks that this is not our war and that the costs are too high may be in for a rude awakening," Gauck warned. "If we don't help Ukraine to defend itself and push back the aggressor, then the European peace order as a whole will falter - with unforeseeable consequences for other countries as well."
Unlike Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Gauck says he does not see any German involvement in the war in the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. Relevant international law experts and military experts would not see this either, said Gauck and warned against being too fearful. Scholz strictly rejects the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, despite massive criticism, including from his governing coalition.
Russian President Vladimir Putin knows that many Germans become afraid more quickly than Poles and French, said the former Federal President. He takes advantage of this. »Fear is a helper of the aggressor. My appeal is not to be afraid too early, for example of Putin's threat of nuclear weapons."
dab/AFP