Green tip distances itself from Hofreiter’s criticism of Scholz
Hofreiter – “We are losing our good reputation”
Arms deliveries to Ukraine are making little or no progress. While other NATO countries are supplying the country, there is probably a standstill in Berlin. The Greens politician Anton Hofreiter from the Foreign Affairs Committee also criticizes this.
The Greens politician Anton Hofreiter has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for more leadership in Ukraine politics. His party does not share the criticism. One is “very grateful for an extremely close cooperation,” emphasizes Green boss Nouripour.
DThe Green Party has distanced itself from the criticism made by its member of the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The chairman of the Europe Committee had accused Scholz of a lack of leadership in the Ukraine crisis. That is “not the line of Bündnis90/Die Grünen,” made clear party leader Omid Nouripour on Thursday in Berlin.
The coalition stands very close together in order to meet the immense current challenges. Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock talk to each other about the war in Ukraine around the clock. “We are very grateful for the extremely close cooperation in this federal government on this matter,” Nouripour said. The situation is too serious for partisan thinking, the government is closed.
However, Nouripour supports Baerbock’s demand to now also supply heavy weapons to Ukraine, as he made clear on Monday.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) also rejected Hofreiter’s criticism of Scholz. He said on Thursday at a campaign event in Kiel that he expressly disagreed with Hofreiter. “A government works together. In times like these, it is extremely important that Germany does not allow itself to be divided.” In this respect, he finds Hofreiter’s statement wrong.
Hofreiter wants more leadership from the Chancellor
Hofreiter had accused Scholz of a lack of leadership in Ukraine politics. “The problem is in the Chancellery,” he said. The Chancellor speaks of “a turning point, but he is not implementing it sufficiently and much more leadership is needed,” said Hofreiter on the “RTL Direkt” program.
The chairman of the Europe Committee in the Bundestag warned of damage to Germany’s image: “We are currently losing a lot of respect with all our neighbors.” In talks with other European parliamentarians, the question is currently being asked everywhere: “Where is Germany actually?” said Hofreiter . This is “not only a problem for the people of Ukraine”, but also “a problem for us”.
Hofreiter again demanded that Germany deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine as quickly as possible. “It’s not at all easy for me to demand heavy weapons, but it’s such a brutal war of annihilation, and I’ll say it quite frankly, we now want to exert maximum pressure so that the government’s policy changes,” said the Green politician.
Hofreiter traveled to Ukraine on Tuesday together with SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth and FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. In the west of the country, the three traffic light politicians visited, among other things, seriously injured Ukrainian soldiers in hospital and met with representatives of the Ukrainian parliament.
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