In the Bundestag, SPD parliamentary group leader Mützenich brought up the possibility of “freezing” the war in Ukraine. The Greens are then reminded of the “old Russia policy,” and the ex-Ukrainian ambassador launches a verbal attack.
Politicians from the Greens, the FDP and the CDU have criticized SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich for his statements about a possible freeze of the war in Ukraine. Green Party leader Ricarda Lang told Welt-TV that his speech in the Bundestag was a “backslide into the social democracy’s old Russia policy.”
“It is clear that freezing this conflict would ultimately lead to unbelievable suffering for the many people in these occupied territories,” said Green Party leader Lang. Green foreign politician Anton Hofreiter called Mützenich’s proposal on Welt-TV an encouragement for Putin to “escalate the war even further.” That damages Germany’s reputation in the world.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also shook her head during Mützenich’s speech on the government bench. She had already warned of a “frozen conflict” last December. That would cement Putin’s tyranny in Ukraine, says her spokesman Sebastian Fischer.
Thinking about freezing the war
On Thursday, in the Bundestag debate about the CDU/CSU’s request to supply Ukraine with “Taurus” cruise missiles, Mützenich initially pointed out the extensive German support with military supplies, humanitarian aid and the reception of refugees. At the same time, the SPD parliamentary group leader said that it was necessary to deal with the fact that many countries outside of Europe had a different view of this war. The question must therefore be asked “how we can convince these countries to free ourselves more from this shackles of war in Europe”.
Mützenich continued with a question that he said is sometimes referred to as an “eyesore” in the Bundestag. He literally said: “Isn’t it time that we not only talk about how to fight a war, but also think about how to freeze a war and later end it?” Aren’t these questions “also political?”
Ukrainian ex-ambassador insults Mützenich
FDP leader Lindner then accused Mützenich of running an election campaign. He told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung: “Questions of the security of the Federal Republic of Germany and the existence of democracy in Ukraine must not become the subject of the primary election campaign, as the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group tried to do.”
Lindner’s party colleague, Europe’s top candidate Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, is urging a quick explanation from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the SPD itself. “If Rolf Mützenich, who as chairman speaks for the entire SPD parliamentary group, seriously freezes of the war in Ukraine, the Chancellor’s SPD party is obviously moving away from the agreed turnaround,” Strack-Zimmermann told the magazine “Stern”.
Dem Deutschlandfunk She also said: “I’m sure that Ukraine was just as horrified as all of us in the Bundestag when we heard that.” In fact, Mützenich’s speech led Ukraine’s former ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, to verbally derail. On X, formerly Twitter, he called him the “most disgusting German politician”:
Mützenich rejects criticism
Meanwhile, Mützenich himself rejected the criticism of his statements. In his speech, he “clearly spoke out in favor of supporting Ukraine, including with weapons and ammunition,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. In addition, like many before him, he “suggested thinking not only about military aid, but also about the conditions for a possible end to the war.” At the same time, Mützenich emphasized that he was in no way advocating the abandonment of the territories in the east of Ukraine and Crimea that were occupied in violation of international law. And: “Russia must not win this war.”
Mützenich received support from SPD leader Saskia Esken. Esken said before a closed meeting of the SPD party executive committee in Berlin that she wanted to make it very clear that Mützenich and others in the SPD were in full support of Ukraine. “And of course that we also share the longing for peace that Ukrainians in particular have.” The SPD repeatedly appeals to the Russian President to return to negotiations and talk together about how peace is possible.
Kiesewetter: Mützenich’s initiative was a “trial balloon”
When asked about the government’s assessment of Mützenich’s speech, its spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said that he would not evaluate statements from the parliamentary chamber. At the same time, he emphasized that Germany supports Ukraine “in its defense against the Russian aggressor with everything we can be responsible for.” Hebestreit added: “That stands.”
The CDU foreign politician Roderich Kiesewetter believes that Mützenich’s statement was coordinated with the Chancellery. The initiative was a “test balloon” that showed the overall positioning of the SPD, Kiesewetter told the Welt-TV broadcaster. The idea of freezing shows “that the SPD still has a romanticism about Russia, which is now catching up with us in Germany terribly,” said Kiesewetter.
With information from Uli Hauck, ARD capital studio