Left and AfD are arguing about how to deal with the Ukraine war - and are primarily concerned with themselves

On Sunday, the party leaders of the Left and AfD answered questions on ARD and ZDF.

They argued about Ukraine politics and personal details.

Berlin – The horseshoe theory states that extreme positions within a society are similar.

Parties far from the democratic center are arranged in the shape of a horseshoe.

They are closer to each other than both are to the middle.

The summer interviews by ARD and ZDF show that AfD and Linke are similar in one respect in particular: Both are particularly concerned with themselves.

The main topic in both discussions was the Ukraine war.

For the newly elected Left Co-Chairman Martin Schirdewan it was a “war of aggression contrary to international law”, for Alice Weidel, who had been promoted to Co-Chair of the AfD, “a solid war contrary to international law”.

The target of the party leadership is set.

However, it is doubtful that this credo represents the entire party.

And so Schirdewan and Weidel were confronted with statements from their own ranks, which then differed quite significantly from the top.

Summer Interview: Is the Left Divided?

Quarrel over Wagenknecht

Schirdewan had to put up with the accusation of a fragmented party on ARD.

The left is like a cup that hit the ground.

For Schirdewan it is now a matter of sweeping up the pieces, said ARD moderator Oliver Köhr and played a tweet from ex-group leader Sahra Wagenknecht.

It speaks of a “crazy war against Russia”.

A camp within the left around Wagenknecht or ex-party leader Klaus Ernst is campaigning for an end to sanctions against Russia.

In an interview with our editors, Wagenknecht spoke of "nonsensical sanctions" that would hit Germany in particular.

At the Left Party Congress at the end of June, a leading motion was passed condemning the Ukraine war and accusing Moscow of “imperialist policies”.

The Wagenknecht camp had failed in its attempt to have this term deleted and to defuse the application as a whole with a view to Russia.

+

If not that, the face of your party: Sahra Wagenknecht

© RAINER UNKEL/IMAGO

Schirdewan referred to that party line on ARD.

If some members deviate from this, it is ultimately also a “reflection of the discussion in society”.

He also seemed to want to whitewash the disunity of the left, speaking of polyphony instead of strife.

Once again, personal details play a role in the Left Party.

The left is in a sometimes heated debate on sexism, as a result of which co-boss Susanne Hennig-Wellsow resigned in April.

The most recent personal move: The Rhineland-Palatinate state chairwoman Melanie Wery-Sims resigned from the left during the week because a comrade had insulted her sexistically.

"I very much regret Melanie's departure," said Schirdewan and announced "corresponding consequences".

Summer interview: Weidel is fighting for the AfD course in the Ukraine war

The AfD is also traditionally at odds.

The party discussed vigorously about the right reaction to the Ukraine war - also at the top of the party.

ZDF presenter Shakuntala Banerjee said that individual MPs made themselves "Putin's extended propaganda arm".

In addition, she plays contributions from members of parliament who celebrate active closeness to Russia - and portray Russia's President Vladimir Putin as a "real guy, real man with healthy values" (Hans-Thomas Tillschneider).

Weidel replied: "First of all, it is completely undisputed in our party and also in the parliamentary group that this is a completely illegal war of aggression by Russia against Ukraine."

However, the leading politician of the right-wing populists had to make it clear: "And if something else is said, then that is not the line of the parliamentary group or party on this issue".

Different opinions are clarified internally. This also applies to a public dispute between co-party leader Tino Chrupalla and board member Christina Baum, who spoke of a "creeping genocide among the German people" in connection with immigration.

In the ARD summer interview with @MatthiasDeiss, AfD boss Tino Chrupalla threatened consequences if Christina Baum (new to the federal executive board!) repeats her statement about the "creeping genocide of the German people".

Chrupalla discussed this with her, he doesn't tolerate it.(1/x) pic.twitter.com/yVHbknFl4e

— Martin Schmidt (@SchmidtLev) July 19, 2022

Summer interview: Weidel attacks the protection of the constitution

Christina Baum belongs to the formally dissolved völkisch-national wing.

The wing is partly responsible for the fact that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist since this year.

Head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, sees “a strengthening of the extremist currents in the party” after the most recent AfD party conference, which ended in chaos.

You have to classify that, replied Weidel.

The protection of the constitution is not an independent authority.

“Mr. Haldenwang is a member of the CDU and reports to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser from the SPD.

Here, an authority is being used politically to denigrate an opposition party over and over again.”

Summer interview: AfD and Left are arguing about Ukraine-Russia course

Like co-boss Tino Chrupalla, Weidel is campaigning against sanctions against Russia, and Schirdewan was clearly in favor of it.

But the question is "to what extent sanctions regarding the energy supply make sense".

A gas embargo discussed in the past would "pull the plug for us here in Germany and lead to a massive economic crisis including a social catastrophe," said the left-wing politician, who is a member of the EU Parliament.

Due to skyrocketing gas and food prices, there is a risk of a “huge wave of energy poverty” which, together with high inflation, will mean “people can no longer afford food and rents will keep rising”.

The Left boss warned of a "manifest crisis of democracy".

The right would mobilize now.

Both party leaders also spoke about the history of the war.

Weidel explained that the "historical embedding" of the war was important.

"The Russians have always made it very clear that they would not accept any opposing power in their backyard." Ukraine has been seen as a red line for decades.

It was a mistake to have treated it so lightly and not to have considered Ukraine a neutral state.

"That's the mistake the West has to make."

In parts of the left, NATO and especially the USA are seen as partly responsible for the escalation in the Ukraine conflict.

For Shirdevan, Putin bears “sole responsibility” for this war.

“Of course, every conflict in human history has a history.

But no history in any way justifies a regime deciding to brutally kill thousands of civilians.

There is no justification for that.”

AfD and Left: Two opposition parties in a negative vortex

AfD and Linke have failed to distinguish themselves since the federal election: Both opposition parties rush from one bad election result to the next.

There is the AfD, which has suffered losses in every state election since the Tino Chrupalla era.

And then there's the left, which almost got kicked out of the Bundestag in September and doesn't play a role in many federal states.

Back to the horseshoe theory: there are still many differences between the left and the AfD, for example on the subject of corona: Schirdewan spoke of “completely inadequate” corona measures, Weidel of the normalization of a “state of emergency that simply makes our fundamental rights normal”. .