AfD vice chairman: Ukraine not Germany鈥檚 war
AfD vice chairman Peter Boehringer says Ukraine conflict 鈥榠s not our war鈥�
The vice chairman of the AfD party says Germany was under no 鈥榦bligation to involve itself鈥� in the war in Ukraine.
The vice chairman of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party says the conflict in Ukraine 鈥榠s not our war鈥�.
Speaking to 麻豆社 HARDtalk, Peter Boehringer said: 鈥楪ermany did not have 鈥� neither by Nato engagement or treaties, nor by EU treaties 鈥� any obligation to involve itself in that war鈥�.
He said he was surprised by the decision to send weapons to Ukraine. 鈥楾he German government did something which we had not done in decades or never after the Second World War,鈥� he said.
Critics accuse the AfD of being pro-Russia and sympathetic to President Putin. In September 2022, a group of AfD politicians visited Moscow in what some described as a 鈥榩ropaganda鈥� trip. Mr Boehringer has said the visit was not endorsed by the party leadership and claimed the politicians 鈥榳ere not senior figures鈥�.
The German economy has been badly affected by the loss of Russian energy as a result of the war in Ukraine. Mr Boehringer anticipated that once the conflict ends, Germany could resume gas imports from Russia. 鈥榃e are not expecting the gas to come in as long as the war rages. But finally and ultimately, and this is what AfD is saying, somebody has to negotiate a peace treaty here,鈥� he said.
The AfD has been riding high in recent polls amid widespread concern at the downturn in Germany鈥檚 economy and voter dissatisfaction with the centre-left coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party.
