The far-right “Alternative for Germany” and the left-populist “Alliance for Social Justice”, which together control the majority in the Landtag of Saxony-Anhalt, plan to put their first joint resolution on ending military aid to Ukraine to a vote on October 14. In the document, they also demand that the failure of sanctions against Russia be declared, peace talks with Moscow be started, and economic relations with it be normalized.
According to the international agency Reuters and the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the draft resolution from members of the Saxony-Anhalt Landtag proposes declaring the policy of sanctions against Russia, as well as arms deliveries and financial aid to Ukraine, a failure.
The authors of the document call for preventing further escalation in Ukraine and, as they put it, pursuing a “policy of peace”. They also demand an immediate ceasefire and the start of peace talks with Russia.
The text, according to Reuters and DW, also includes a call to normalize economic relations between Germany and Russia and to lift sanctions. The publications note that such a resolution will be symbolic, because state governments do not influence Germany’s foreign policy.
Reuters writes that the initiative shows AfD’s desire to achieve an end to Germany’s support for Ukraine and the restoration of ties with Russia. Representatives of BSW said that Germany needs a policy that thinks more about Köthen, a city in Saxony-Anhalt, than about Kyiv.
At the beginning of September, AfD won the election in Saxony-Anhalt with a record result for itself — 43.8% of the vote and 39 of 83 seats in the regional parliament. Together with BSW, the two parties now have 44 of 83 mandates in the Landtag.
AfD also said that it is already discussing with the Russian side the issue of resuming gas supplies to Germany. The party’s foreign policy spokesperson, Markus Frohnmaier, according to these reports, discussed this issue with Gazprom chief Alexey Miller.
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