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The new replacement for the head of the ruling party in Germany, Armin Laschet, could become chancellor in 2021. He has repeatedly expressed his sympathy for the Kremlin.
The first online convention of the German Christian Democratic Union has elected a new leader. Now the party, led by Angela Merkel for almost two decades, is headed by the prime minister of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet.
Laschet was not considered the favorite of the contest and now has a real chance to lead Germany in 2021 if the Conservatives win the next general parliamentary election in the fall. Correspondent.net tells what is known about Armin Lashet.
Looking at Crimea “through the eyes of a partner”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel began her quiet exit from power on December 7, 2018, stepping down as head of the Christian Democratic Union party. Later the political force was headed by Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, whom the press called “mini-Merkel”.
She is also pragmatic and far from pathos, but on many issues, particularly Russia’s actions towards Ukraine, she takes a more conservative and tough stance. However, Kramp-Karrenbauer refused to lead the party and be nominated for chancellor.
On January 16, 2021, a new CDU congress was held, in which Armin Lashet was elected head of the party. However, he left open the question of whether he would be nominated for the post of German chancellor.
Laschet is a close and loyal ally of Merkel, who remains the most popular politician in Germany after four terms as chancellor.
Laschet’s popularity is also compounded by the fact that he attended the election of the CDU president together with Jens Spahn, a young and ambitious Minister of Health, whose rating was carried by the coronavirus wave to second place after the chancellor. Span will replace Laschet.
Angela Merkel herself refrained from making recommendations, but her head of administration, the influential political manager behind the scenes Helge Braun, came out in favor of a person with government experience. And among the candidates, only Laschet was such.
Merkel’s liberal-centrist course will continue, both in Germany itself and in foreign policy.
Laschet is the Kremlin’s most moderate critic among the CDU presidential candidates. Also, in the past, unlike his rivals, he expressed sympathy for the Russian leadership.
He has no doubts about the need to complete the construction of the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. But he supports the sanctions imposed by the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, but wants it to be lifted immediately after “the beginning of the constructive development of the process of Minsk “.
Speaking about the annexation of Crimea, he noted that Russia “of course violates international law,” but one should be able to “look at everything through the eyes of one interlocutor,” writes DW.
Laschet believes that Moscow is “demonized” in Germany, and asks that ways be found to normalize relations with him, since “Russia is necessary to solve many international problems.”
“The demonization of Putin is not political, but an alibi for his absence,” Laschet told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in March 2014.
According to him, even during the Cold War, attempts were made to establish a dialogue with Moscow, but now it is not.
“We have a climate in which anyone who speaks from a point of view other than the generally accepted one regarding the Russian Federation is declared bought by Gazprom or a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” he was shocked.
Following the poisoning of the Skripals, the politician unexpectedly made a comment on Twitter, hinting that to show solidarity with London he would like to see stronger evidence of Russian guilt.
“We need to strengthen what unites our countries, establish stronger ties and strengthen mutual understanding. And what divides us must be discussed openly,” Laschet said in 2019 at a meeting of the German-Russian Petersburg Dialogue forum near Bonn, the former capital Germany.
However, the election of a politician close to the current chancellor to the position of leader of the CDU can be seen as a sign that the continuity of Merkel’s course will be maintained.
This suggests a high probability that Russian-German relations will remain at their current level: in the context of a serious political cold snap, close economic ties with Russia will remain, especially since there are many supporters of such an approach in Germany both in politics as in business.
It should also be borne in mind that Joe Biden comes to power in the United States, with whom the Europeans put their hopes of activating close transatlantic ties.
This automatically reinforces the position of the so-called “Atlanticists” in German politics and consequently means a hardening of the course towards Russia.
Artyom Sokolov, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at the MGIMO Institute for International Studies, agrees that the election of Armin Laschet to the position of director of the CDU is no guarantee of improving Russian-German relations in the foreseeable future.
“Much here will depend on systemic factors, such as the development of Russian-European and German-American relations, communication with the Biden administration, the development of the joint venture-2,” Kommersant quotes the expert.
Taking into account the CDU’s place in the political and party system in Germany, the party chief has some influence on domestic and foreign policy issues, but this influence should not be overestimated, the Germanist noted.
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