Annalena Baerbock, the Greens' candidate for chancellor, is promoting a tougher course towards Russia and China.
The federal government sees it differently.
Munich / Berlin - The Greens want to provide the next Chancellor.
The last polls see the environmental party ahead of Union and SPD as the strongest party at the federal level.
With Annalena Baerbock, the party quietly agreed on a top candidate for the federal election in September, while the union sank into internal power struggles between Armin Laschet and Markus Söder.
The latest statements by Baerbock show that the election campaign is now also gaining momentum in terms of content.
The Green politician positions herself in an interview with the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on
foreign policy - against the government's course.
Annalena Baerbock calls for "dialogue and hardship" on China
In an interview with the
FAS
, Baerbock elevated the relationship to China
to a “competition of systems: authoritarian forces versus liberal democracies”.
The Green politician is particularly critical of the Chinese infrastructure program for the New Silk Road.
The People's Republic is investing billions in a network of new ports, railway lines, roads and industrial parks - in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Critics fear increasing dependence on China.
In dealing with the government of Xi Jinping, the correct approach of the West is a mixture of "dialogue and hardship", explained Baerbock.
For example, the EU should “define which products come onto our market, and we can say: Products from forced labor do not come onto our market” - a reference to the current debate about the allegation that members of the Uyghur minority in the Chinese cotton fields Xinjiang Province would have to do forced labor.
Baerbock is promoting a tougher course towards Russia
In the conversation, the Greens chairman called for a tightening of the course towards Russia. With regard to the troop movement of the Russian army on the Ukrainian border, Baerbock wants to "increase the pressure on Russia". The relationship between Ukraine and Russia has been at a low point since the illegal annexation of Crimea. Observers feared that the Russian action would further escalate the conflict.
But Baerbock decided that the course should not only be tightened because of the Russian action on the Ukrainian border.
She made it clear that the planned German-Russian Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 would have to be “withdrawn from political support”.
With her statements, the 40-year-old opposed the course of the federal government.
The reaction of Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) was not long in coming.
Maas contradicts Baerbock: Don't "chase those who always demand the toughest measures"
+
Heiko Maas rejects further sanctions against Russia in the ARD program “Report from Berlin” (screenshot).
© ARD / screenshot
On Sunday, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) refused to tighten sanctions against Russia. In the ARD format “Report from Berlin”, Maas admitted that the relationship with Russia was “very bad”. "But it shouldn't stay that way," added the Foreign Minister. “Ultimately, nobody can have an interest in permanent provocations and confrontations turning into serious disputes, especially not us in Europe,” he recalled.
Maas also wanted to refrain from further sanctions against Russia with regard to the imprisonment of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. “Will they say in Moscow: 'Thank you very much for imposing even tougher sanctions?' I do not think so. I believe the opposite will be the case, ”he said. One has to act responsibly and cannot “just chase those who always demand the toughest measures”. On September 26, the day of the Bundestag election, it will probably be decided what position Germany will adopt on the international stage. Moscow and Beijing will be watching the decision with interest. (
jjf / AFP / dpa
)