Baerbock and Merz on the right side?

CDU and Greens play the balls at "Maischberger".

Created: 05/12/2022, 15:08

Ricarda Lang (Greens) and Friedrich Merz (CDU) as guests at “Maischberger.

The Week” (ARD).

© Screenshot ARD Mediathek

At Maischberger, the Greens and the CDU come surprisingly close.

The two party leaders Ricarda Lang and Friedrich Merz are facing despite differences.

Berlin – "Chapeau!", Friedrich Merz praises the commitment of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

The Green politician is surprisingly popular with the Union anyway.

Shortly before the G7 meeting, she was the first member of the government to travel to Kyiv since the beginning of the war and emphasized Germany's solidarity.

Opposition leader Merz, who had already traveled to Ukraine a week earlier, made it clear to the applause of the studio audience on "Maischberger" how important the statements of support for Ukraine are to him personally.

It must be made clear that the times when “Germany is again doing politics with Russia on the backs of other countries” are over.

Baerbock and Merz on the right side?

CDU and Greens play the balls at "Maischberger".

Merz, on the other hand, had to listen to criticism for his trip to Kyiv from the Greens.

Jürgen Trittin had described Merz's meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj as "political unreliability of the CDU/CSU".

His trip had been planned since February, Merz justifies himself and quotes Robert Habeck with the words: "I would have traveled instead of Friedrich Merz." There is support for this from the Greens boss: "Me too," shouts Ricarda Lang and explains: "If people in Ukraine say we want someone to come, then we should respect that".

The deputy

editor-in-chief Robin Alexander confirms: "If someone like Ms. Baerbock comes along and shows that I suffer, I see what is happening to you, then people know: We will not be swept under the historical table again."

"Maischberger.

The week" - these guests discussed with:

• Ricarda Lang (Die Grünen)

  - Party leader

• Friedrich Merz (CDU)

  - party chairman

• Klaus von Dohnanyi (SPD) -

  publicist, former Federal Minister of Education and Science 

As experts: 

• Robin Alexander -

  Deputy

  World

  Editor -in-Chief

• Bernhard Hoëcker -

  actor and moderator

• Sabine Rennefanz -

  journalist and columnist

With so much unity on the Ukraine question, Maischberger is taking a closer look at the harmony between the Greens and the CDU.

She explores the major issues, including natural gas deliveries from Russia.

Lang has a clear position and, like Baerbock, underscores the end of “dependence on Russia”.

And she calls for the fundamental exit from the "fossils" because these "always have a tendency to monopoly".

Lang also says it was a mistake to claim that "Russian gas" is cheap.

Only Germany has not paid "the price" in recent years - currently "Ukraine is paying it".

Ukraine dispute: Merz is skeptical about “apodictic” refusals towards Russia

When it comes to gas, Merz distinguishes between “energy sources” and “important raw materials” for “large parts of industry”.

The CDU man does not want to do without the latter under any circumstances and states: “Hopefully we will never do that, because that would be the end of hundreds of thousands of jobs”.

Merz is critical of the "apodictic" cancellations by Lang and Baerbock in Kyiv and warns not to endanger "German industry".

In a “relatively short time” Germany has dropped from 55 to 32 percent in natural gas deliveries, but at the same time it is true: “It will be difficult to get out completely”.

Maischberger switches to the next energy topic: nuclear power.

Merz also sees opportunities here, speaking of a "new generation" that, for example, also enables the recycling of fuel rods, which makes the question of final storage easier.

Lang sees it differently: "It was checked in the Ministry of Economics, it was checked in the Ministry of the Environment," said the Green Party, "and it turned out that it's technically incredibly difficult, it's incredibly expensive energy." Merz counters: "Large parts of the European member states rely on nuclear energy: France is building new ones, England probably too, the Netherlands and many others are planning it.” Lang sees this as the wrong direction.

Then you would "perhaps have a working solution for now," says Lang, but "the next generations will pay the price - up to 40,000 generations."

"Maischberger" (ARD): Merz and Lang are in favor of reviewing the favoring of churches

Maischberger is now putting Merz through its paces.

She refers to a Bundestag speech in which the CDU leader disrespectfully spoke of "feminist foreign policy".

Lang clarifies what content this feminism represents: the "special situation of women", "the vulnerability of women in war situations" and rules on how "rape as a weapon of war" can be countered.

In addition, Lang believes, “compromises would work better if women, who “represent half of the population”, were involved from the start.

Maischberger also raised the issue of abortion.

In contrast to the USA, where the basic right is to be restricted, the show is only concerned with the question of whether it should be promoted by doctors' offices.

Merz makes it clear: "Information yes, advertising no".

Lang finds that she "just like Mr. Merz, presumably," "as a woman" would like to "decide on her own body", Merz nods understandingly.

"Half agreement," says Maischberger, on another question: "Should the state continue to support the Catholic Church with billions in contributions?" Merz adds that the topic is also about the Protestant Church and about reviewing state church contracts.

Ukraine at "Maischberger": Von Dohnanyi wants to negotiate with Russia and reaps rejection

After the harmony, it becomes controversial in conversation with the former Hamburg mayor Klaus von Dohnanyi.

The SPD man has been considered a US critic since he learned of the US position during a NATO exercise in 1979 that Germany would be “sacrificed” in the event of a nuclear war.

A lot has changed since then, Maischberger notes soberly, but Dohnanyi's skepticism seems to run deep.

When he draws the bow to the Ukraine war, he embarks on thin ice.

Maischberger had to put his statements into context several times, and the viewers had to listen very carefully in order not to misunderstand the ex-federal minister and state minister in the Foreign Office as a blind man who understood Putin.

"Putin is the aggressor," finally states von Dohnanyi, who is waging a "war of aggression".

In the opinion of the SPD man, the United States lost "the opportunity" to "prevent this" because they did not want to negotiate "the question of Ukraine's membership in NATO".

But that was due to the "unfulfillable demands" of the Russians, adds Maischberger, above all the withdrawal of the "nuclear umbrella from Europe".

Journalist Alexander also finds little to gain from Dohnanyi's remarks: "In the last 20 years, German politics has given Russia as little consideration as it has," he clarifies.

Conclusion of the “Maischberger.

The week” talks

The conversation duo Merz and Lang had a refreshing effect and Maischberger also listened to the two committed studio guests with obvious pleasure.

Klaus von Dohnanyi seemed out of date, but also impressive considering his 93 years.

Intellectually active and fit, he nevertheless seems to cling to an old doctrine.

Time will tell if his attempts to explore negotiating options with Russia are either too late or perhaps just too soon.