Criticism of the SPD and CDU: Heinrich August Winkler requires a committee of inquiry into Germany’s Russia coverage | EUROtoday

The famend historian Heinrich August Winkler requires a complete parliamentary evaluate of German overseas coverage in Eastern Europe. “There are good reasons to convene a parliamentary investigative committee or commission of inquiry to examine Germany’s Russia policy in the Putin era,” Winkler advised “Focus”.

With regard to help for Ukraine, Winkler involves a harsh judgment on ex-Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), whose “turning point” speech was “a big step forward,” however Germany fell “behind its possibilities and what was necessary” in supporting Ukraine. The “judgment of historical science” about Scholz’s actions in supporting Ukraine will in all probability be “too late and too little”.

Under Lars Klingbeil, the Social Democrats had damaged with Gerhard Schröder’s Russia coverage, however “a critical analysis of the second phase of Eastern policy and Egon Bahr’s role is still pending,” stated Winkler. Bahr, who gained nice affect on the SPD’s Eastern coverage in the course of the time of Willy Brandt, had described civil rights actions such because the impartial Polish commerce union Solidarnosc as a “threat to world peace”.

At the identical time, Winkler additionally takes the Union events to process due to the Merkel period through which Nord Stream 2 was determined and carried out: “Neither the CDU nor the CSU have any reason for political self-righteousness.”

With regard to Germany’s inner stability, the historian’s judgment is blended. Towards the tip of the Weimar Republic there was a “negative majority against democracy” in Germany. Today’s Germany is “further removed” from this and from the civil war-like road combating of 1932.

But “no far right party has ever had as much support as the AfD.” This is just like “the German National People’s Party of the late Weimar Republic – the party that played a decisive role in the transfer of power to Hitler at the beginning of 1933,” stated Winkler.