2024-03-26 04:35:21
A surprising change in strategy emerged in Friedrich Merz’s speech in the Bundestag on Wednesday.
Friedrich Merz frowns, grabs his folder and goes towards the lectern. The Chancellor has just made his government declaration on the European Council in the plenary session of the German Bundestag. Now it’s the opposition leader’s turn.
Anyone who has listened to the Union in recent weeks could now expect a fiery speech in favor of arms deliveries to Ukraine. With a Merz who once again clearly says that the Chancellor is making a mistake if he refuses to deliver Taurus cruise missiles. But things turn out differently than expected.
In his speech, the CDU leader neither mentioned “Taurus” nor “weapons deliveries”. It is actually one of the central issues on which the CDU/CSU has pushed the federal government ahead of them in recent weeks. The Union parliamentary group submitted two proposals. Both times without success.
Merz has now called on his own ranks to leave the issue alone. You don’t have to submit an application every week, was the appeal at the group meeting on Tuesday. Participants report to t-online that Merz emphasized that the debate should not be exaggerated.
A change in communication strategy, if you will. But what’s behind it?
Discontent in the East – MPs and country leaders complain
In fact, the issue has been bothering not only the parliamentary group, but also the party for a while. Many people are aware that the majority of Germans are against the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles. Also among the supporters of the CDU and CSU. According to a current Forsa survey, 60 percent of those surveyed there reject a delivery.
And while the desire for a more moderate tone when it comes to arms deliveries in the West has apparently remained limited so far, CDU politicians in the East have now also had different experiences. MPs report on the increasingly loud criticism in their constituencies. About being insulted as a “warmonger”.
According to the party, the state chairmen and prime ministers are also said to have expressed dissatisfaction with the faction’s aggressive communication.
As t-online learned, Merz is said to have assured the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer and the Thuringian CDU leader Mario Voigt last week within the committees that he would slow down on the issue and no longer submit any more Taurus proposals in the parliamentary group. Both are likely to be under massive pressure with a view to the upcoming state elections in Thuringia and Saxony. As t-online learned from participants, Kretschmer is said to have once again expressed criticism in the executive committee about this.
No wonder. After all, the majority of East Germans are not only against more aid for Ukraine, they even support supplying fewer weapons. This emerges from a representative survey commissioned by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Progressive Center, which the “Tagesspiegel” published on Wednesday. This is probably why Kretschmer recently called on the Europeans to seek a ceasefire.
Merz chooses words carefully, only speaks of “support”
The parliamentary group submitted its second Taurus proposal to the Bundestag last week. But that doesn’t have to mean that Merz didn’t stick to the agreement with his country leaders. Instead, it could also have been because the application had been in preparation for some time. Pulling him back might have resulted in a fight. There were also requests to speak at the parliamentary group meeting last week that called for a more moderate tone in the debate and were critical of the motion in view of the mood at home. However, the majority of the group was of the opinion that this could further divide the traffic light. Beyond that, no further applications are currently being planned.
And this Wednesday, too, during the opposition leader’s speech, a clearly different tone can be seen than has been heard before: Merz is talking about the cohesion of NATO, about European defense and security policy. On migration agreements and motions for resolutions on anti-Semitism. “And then finally Ukraine,” says Merz towards the end of his speech. There should be no doubt that Germany will continue to provide support. “Peaceful can mean the opposite of peace,” said the opposition leader.