Germany’s Scholz worried about shifting public opinion on Ukraine support

5 months ago 19

The rise of populists in the former East Germany in the European elections is linked to growing opposition to support for Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz admitted on Sunday, insisting there was no alternative to maintaining aid.

Both the far-right AfD (15.9%) and the left-populist BSW (6.2%), which oppose sanctions and arms supplies, made gains in June’s EU elections, in which ‘securing peace’ was the top concern among German voters.

In the former East German states, the parties came first and third, respectively of all parties, ahead of Scholz’s centre-left SPD (S&D).

Scholz admitted that there was a link between the results and public opposition to support for Ukraine when asked about the coalition’s weak polling in the east compared to the BSW and AfD.

“I want to address one topic upfront that we must not talk around: It is true that there are many citizens who do not agree with the fact that we are supporting Ukraine, who also do not agree with the fact that we have imposed sanctions against Russia,” Scholz said in an interview with broadcaster ARD.

“This is also reflected by the election results,” he added.

In his own party, Scholz’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with German weapons was criticised for stoking fears shortly before the election without sufficiently explaining it.

But Scholz said that “it is not an alternative, in my view, that we change that [support for Ukraine] now”, pointing out that Russia was trying to “move borders with violence.”

Ukraine support could fall on the chancellor’s feet as three of the five Eastern German states will go to the polls in regional elections in autumn.

Since the AfD is leading in all three states, it could even take over the regional governments, which have wide-reaching competencies due to Germany’s federal structure, in the unlikely case it finds coalition partners.

The chancellor warned that the prospect of regional AfD prime ministers was “gloomy.”

“If we look around Europe and the world, this is something where you can easily imagine that it will not have good consequences,” he said.

(Nick Alipour | Euractiv.de)