BSW founding party conference
What Wagenknecht wants: More Germany and oil, less Europe and refugees
BSW boss Sahra Wagenknecht in Berlin: Many people are “politically homeless”
© John MacDougall / AFP
There are “so many problems, uncertainty, indignation and anger” – with this analysis Sahra Wagenknecht and her new party BSW are heading into the European election campaign. Their recipe: Strengthen national interests and buy oil from Russia again.
At the start there was a warm windfall of money: the couple Lotte Salingré and Thomas Stanger from West Mecklenburg donated one million euros to the new alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) donated. They told the editorial network Germany that the new party should be given the same starting chances for the coming elections as established political forces.
Wagenknecht: Home for those disappointed by the traffic lights
The couple made money in the high-tech industry and supported Wagenknecht’s “peace policy.” “We want conflicts to be resolved without weapons and wars. At the moment, all the other parties that we were eligible to vote for are relying more on arms deliveries to crisis areas than on diplomatic conflict resolution,” said 60-year-old Salingré.
The new party of ex-leftist Sahra Wagenknecht met in Berlin for its founding party conference. According to her namesake, she wants to win over people who are disappointed by the traffic light coalition. There are “so many problems, uncertainty, but also indignation and anger,” she said. Many people have become “politically homeless.”
“Let’s set out to change politics”
At the congress, the party executive committee was completed by chairmen Wagenknecht and Amira Mohamed Ali. The delegates elected Friederike Benda from Berlin and Amid Rabieh from North Rhine-Westphalia as deputy party leaders. Both were previously active for the Left, Rabieh as deputy NRW state chairman.
“We are now setting out to change politics in Germany,” said Wagenknecht to the applause of almost 400 delegates. She herself was “afraid of the AfD gaining strength,” said Wagenknecht. But anyone who really wants to weaken the party should also demonstrate for a minimum wage of at least 14 euros, higher pensions and affordable energy.
This is what the BSW wants:
Specifically, their program for the European elections calls for an end to arms aid for Ukraine, oil and gas imports from Russia, asylum procedures at external borders and, overall, more Germany and less EU.
- “The EU in its current constitution is damaging the European idea,” it is said. The goal is formulated as follows: “What can be better and more democratically regulated locally, regionally or nationally must not be left to the regulatory frenzy of the EU technocracy.”
- The BSW program also states that the EU budget should not grow any further. No new members will be added for the time being, including Ukraine. What is needed is “a moratorium on EU enlargement”.
- The Ukraine war is also described as a proxy war between NATO and Russia that could have been prevented by the West. “In order to motivate Russia to start negotiations, an immediate stop to all arms exports to Ukraine should be offered in this case,” said Wagenknecht. Peace and security in Europe cannot be guaranteed “stable and long-term in the conflict with the nuclear power Russia,” it continues.
- In migration policy, the program advocates for asylum procedures at the EU’s external borders or in third countries and for combating the causes of flight. “It can no longer be left to criminal smuggling networks to decide who gets access to the EU.” The EU must “fundamentally” reform its refugee and migration policy. The BSW warns that “in France and other countries, and to a somewhat lesser extent in Germany,” “Islamist-influenced parallel societies have emerged in recent years.”
- One of the other key points is the departure from the central instrument of the previous climate protection policy: According to the BSW’s wishes, trading in CO2 certificates should be abolished. “This certificate trading is completely unsuitable for achieving climate policy goals,” says the program. It calls for the indefinite use of combustion engines and a return to imports of oil and gas from Russia.