Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer has come under cross-party criticism for his recent statements on the Ukraine war. Kretschmer said on Tuesday that one had to recognize that the war was throwing the whole world and Europe into chaos, so Germany had to “work to ensure that this war is frozen.” He is also firmly convinced that raw material supplies from Russia are still needed.
“Thank God this man is not responsible for our foreign policy,” said FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai picture-Newspaper. Kretschmer has “obviously not understood to this day how dangerous Russia is and how important support for Ukraine is.” Djir-Sarai called for a clear positioning from the Union.
At first, they only came from the back rows, the members of the Bundestag Matthias Hauer wrote on Twitter, anyone who suggests that someone other than Russia could freeze the war is being taken in by Russian propaganda that the Union’s position is different. The Berlin CDU boss Kai Wegner said that Kretschmer also knew that peace with the war criminal Putin was not possible. Green MP Jamila Schäfer criticized the move as evidence of dangerous ignorance and that the war freeze had caused thousands of civilian casualties since 2014.
“Put your head in a freezer.”
Also the dismissed one Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk spoke up and wrote to Kretschmer: “The Ukrainians advocate sticking your head in a freezer to freeze your hot Russia fantasies. Your constant pandering to war criminal Putin is disgusting.”
Kretschmer had also called for raw materials to continue to be sourced from Russia. The CDU deputy leader rejects the position of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) to reduce dependence on Russian energy “forever” to zero. “I am firmly convinced that we need these supplies of raw materials. Secondly, I am of the opinion that we must try together (…) to influence the Russian President and also to convince Ukraine that we can all resolve this conflict together have to freeze.”
On Monday, Kretschmer sharply attacked the traffic light and declared the energy transition to have failed. The Saxon Greens leadership reacted coldly, new bluster every day was out of place, the prime minister was poisoning the social climate with this type of communication, said party leader Christin Furtenbacher. Kretschmer is expected to work constructively with the federal government. Kretschmer has governed Dresden since 2019 with the SPD and the Greens.