Bundestag agrees to Sweden and Finland joining NATO – AfD caused a nightly mutton jump scandal

Created: 07/08/2022Updated: 07/08/2022 10:43 AM

By: Florian Naumann

The Finnish Ambassador Anne Sipiläinen (left) and Jenny Lennung Malmqvist, envoy at the Swedish Embassy in Germany, follow the debate in the Bundestag on Sweden's and Finland's NATO accession.

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

Shortly before the summer break, the Bundestag gives the green light for Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

Only the left is against it.

The night before there was a scandal.

Berlin/Munich – Shortly before the parliamentary summer break, the Bundestag approved the planned NATO accession of Finland and Sweden.

The left and two other MPs voted against the plans, two AfD MPs abstained.

On the night of Friday, however, there was still a scandal in the plenary session on a completely different topic.

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had campaigned for the accession of the two countries on behalf of the federal government.

In the face of new challenges, she attested to a "turning point" for NATO.

The admission of Sweden and Finland strengthens “freedom and democracy”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin "bet on our weakness, now he's getting the opposite," she said.

Sweden and Finland: Bundestag agrees to join NATO - Left criticizes Turkey agreement

In addition to the traffic light groups, the Union and the AfD also supported the plans.

For the right-wing populists, however, Alexander Gauland warned: Even initially more symbolic "balance shifts" could exacerbate conflicts instead of easing them.

Finland must continue to act as a "translator of Russian sensitivities".

Neither NATO troops nor nuclear weapons should be permanently stationed on the territory of the two countries.

Left foreign expert Gregor Gysi refused to agree in his speech.

He initially admitted: "Russia attacked Ukraine in violation of international law, so we have to accept such a need for security." At the same time, however, the left criticized the agreement between Finland and Sweden and Turkey, which made accession possible in the first place.

There will be a lack of support for the Kurds in Syria, explained Gysi;

Turkish President Erdogan is already planning another "coercion" in order to extradite alleged "terror suspects" from the countries.

CSU politician Florian Hahn was looking forward to "efficient and potent partners in NATO" - but criticized the absence of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the debate.

On site, however, were representatives of the embassies of Sweden and Finland.

They acknowledged the voting result in the grandstand with relieved gestures of thanks.

However, the Federal Council still had to agree.

Bundestag: "Hammelsprung" scandal shortly before the summer break - AfD stops meeting and is criticized

On the night of Friday, the AfD had provoked a termination of the Bundestag session.

At just before one-thirty, the parliamentary group forced a mutton jump to check the quorum of Parliament.

Strictly speaking, more than half of the 736 MPs have to be present - which is actually never the case at night.

So instead of the necessary 369 parliamentarians, only 184 finally came together.

Vice President Aydan Özoguz (SPD) then ended the meeting.

With the so-called mutton leap, the deputies leave the hall and return through different doors, depending on how they want to vote.

In this way, the majorities can be clarified just as clearly as the number of parliamentarians present.

The last item on the agenda should actually be voted on as to whether MEPs will be allowed to take part in committee meetings in digital form in the future.

However, since the Bundestag proved not to have a quorum, the decision had to be postponed.

The SPD MP Christos Pantazis accused the AfD in a tweet of having "barely been present at the specially requested mutton jump";

Green representative Helge Limburg countered the implicit criticism of the AfD with a photo of the "(almost) completely present" faction.

Nevertheless, some parliamentarians were quite happy about the forced end of work around two o'clock: "I've only eaten a bar since noon, now the apple is my supper," tweeted the Green Sara Nanni;

CDU man Matthias Hauer complains about acute fatigue via emoji.

In 2019, Hauer's fainting spell triggered a debate about working conditions in the Bundestag.

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