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Left: Janine Wissler continues to reject UN peace missions

2021-06-23T15:05:27.148Z


Before the election manifesto party congress of the left, top candidate Dietmar Bartsch had called for a rethink in UN peace missions. Party leader Wissler has now reiterated her no to such military operations.


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Janine Wissler: The left leader wants to cut Germany's defense budget by ten percent every year

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / picture alliance / dpa

The Left wants to decide on its election program at a two-day online party conference.

Debates are expected, particularly on the subject of foreign policy.

The focus will also be on the question of how harsh the no to foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr should be.

Before the start of the party congress, Janine Wissler made her position clear once again.

The party leader speaks out against a change of course when rejecting UN peace missions.

"We rely on civil conflict resolution and civil cooperation, the strengthening of development cooperation and a fair world economic order," said Wissler of the Düsseldorf, "Rheinische Post" and the Bonn "General-Anzeiger".

"Fighting hunger in the world would be a necessary 'humanitarian intervention,' you don't need weapons or the military."

"Disarmament and civil conflict resolution is the way to peace, not the order for soldiers to march abroad," said the co-chairwoman of the left.

Wissler and the head of the left-wing parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, are the top candidates of their party for the Bundestag election in September.

Most recently, Bartsch had called on his party to rethink its attitude towards UN missions.

"We should debate humanitarian UN Green Helmet missions," he told the newspapers.

"As the only peace party in the Bundestag, you do not question us, but rather give peace a new face." At the same time, Bartsch affirmed his party's negative attitude towards foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr.

The idea that classic UN blue helmet missions could be supplemented by UN green helmet missions has been around for a long time.

With a mandate from the Security Council, they could also provide military protection for the population after natural disasters or support them in the implementation of measures against climate change, believe supporters of the idea.

The background to this is the increase in violent, climate-related conflicts.

"We want to achieve a rethink in foreign policy and ban arms exports"

Wissler supports the demand to cut Germany's defense budget by ten percent every year, as envisaged in the draft of the left election program.

The German defense budget has increased by 35 percent since 2014, she criticized.

Wissler also firmly rejects the target for the NATO member states to spend at least two percent of their respective economic output on defense.

"We want to achieve a rethink in foreign policy and ban arms exports," said the Hessian member of the state parliament.

"And we do not base our convictions on whether they are compatible with other parties," she added, referring to the chances for a coalition with the Greens and the SPD in the federal government.

The online party conference of the left begins on Saturday.

Debate is on the Board of Directors' draft for an election manifesto entitled »Time to Act.

For social security, peace and climate justice «.

Particularly intense debates are expected on foreign policy issues.

asc / dpa

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-06-23

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