On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, the left-wing politician defends her “Manifesto for Peace”. The talk show isn’t particularly kind to her.
Sahra Wagenknecht, The Left.Sammy Minkoff/imago
You have to give Sahra Wagenknecht one thing: rhetorically, the former Left Party leader won the talk round with Markus Lanz on Tuesday evening. Sitting across from her in a line-up of one against four were Kevin Kühnert (SPD), the Ukrainian scientist Lyudmyla Melnyk, the Russian exiled journalist Marina Owsjannikova and a contentious moderator Markus Lanz.
Actually, the program was announced on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But basically there aren’t many different aspects of this war’s course or outlook, the show is a one-woman show. Almost every aspect of the discussion comes from a defensive position, almost every point takes a stance in some way against Wagenknecht’s recently published “Manifesto for Peace” – and their statements in the program. And there is plenty of that.
At the time of going to press, around 586,000 people had signed the appeal
In the so-called manifesto, which is actually an open letter with a petition on the change.org campaign platform, Wagenknecht, together with Alice Schwarzer, calls on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to “stop the escalation of arms deliveries”. Scholz should “put himself at the head of a strong alliance for a ceasefire and peace negotiations at both German and European level. Now!” said the paragraph of the letter. At the time of going to press, around 586,000 people had signed the appeal.
The “Manifesto” has been much criticized in its content in recent days – not only for the position to stop arms deliveries. The authors are also accused of collaborating with the right. For example, the AfD parliamentary group leader is now one of the signatories. And his party is partly calling for participation in a rally initiated by Wagenknecht and Schwarzer, which is to take place in Berlin on Saturday.
The political scientist Daniel Keil wrote in a Twitter thread at the beginning of the week that Wagenknecht’s call was compatible with the right, among other things because of its fixation on the nation state.
1/ The proximity of the Wagenknecht/Schwarzer manifesto to right-wing positions must be seen in a larger context: the emergence of a new nationalist political project. A few unfinished notes on this:
— Daniel Keil (@keil_dr) February 20, 2023
But the analysis on Tuesday evening under Lanz’s supervision is not that detailed. Even if he throws the involvement of the AfD at Wagenknecht’s feet right at the beginning of the show: the left-wing politician doesn’t even go into it. She skilfully peppers the central theses of her call to the studio and television audience. She sees “no initiative, no offer” from the West and the USA for negotiations with Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin. Ukraine cannot win a war against the world’s largest nuclear power. The West would be “drawn deeper and deeper into this war” by its arms deliveries.
Markus Lanz: But Ms. Wagenknecht, please
In preparing for the sensitive topic of this show, Lanz has apparently come up with an equally delicate tactic. On the one hand: not letting Wagenknecht finish speaking. His method, however, resembles a somewhat desperate attempt at constant but meaningless contradiction – “but Ms. Wagenknecht, please” – and a horrified shake of the head.
At the same time, Lanz apparently intends to confront his excitement guest with the existing criticism. However, this only works moderately well, because this tactic works against the first one and gives Wagenknecht more speaking time. When asked why she doesn’t also mention the war crimes committed by the Russian side, such as in Bucha, when she calls for peace negotiations with Putin, she replies: “War crimes are no reason to continue a war.”
Kevin Kühnert: Nobody has anything against negotiations
Lanz does not manage to object factually, the SPD general secretary tries. That’s “the catchy thing about the ‘Manifesto’,” says Kühnert, nobody has anything against negotiations. That dying should stop, “everyone would agree immediately.” But from his point of view, Wagenknecht’s demands failed to answer a simple question: What should be negotiated? What are the goals, what are the conditions from the point of view of those attacked, of Ukraine?
Kühnert’s criticism is that Wagenknecht is suppressing the self-determination of the Ukrainian population, that of the government under President Volodymyr Zelensky. “They turn Ukraine from a subject to an object,” says Kühnert. The Ukraine only exists today because of the previous arms deliveries, without them it would have been occupied by the Russians for a long time – and negotiations would no longer be possible.
Lyudmyla Melnyk: Wagenknecht practices anti-Americanism
Lyudmyla Melnyk, who heads a project to network Ukrainian and German researchers at the Institute for European Politics in Berlin, also addresses Ukrainian self-determination. It is wrong to talk about Ukrainian concessions, with which she refers to Wagenknecht’s demand that “both sides” have to make compromises for negotiations. “We looked at Ukraine through Russian glasses for a long time,” says Melnyk, “and now Ukraine is being viewed as an American puppet.”
Marina Ovzyannikova: With whom do you want to negotiate?
And the criticism of the journalist Marina Ovsyannikova? She became known in March 2022 because, as an employee of Russian state television, she organized a protest in the middle of a live broadcast. Owzyannikova accused Wagenknecht of being paid by Putin. Ovzyannikova asks: With whom does she want to negotiate?
Even if Lanz has to smooth things out at the end – he doesn’t think that Putin pays Wagenknecht, but at least a political show in which there is argument is something good. Alone, if four in a circle of chairs rail against one – and this is then rhetorically superior, intercepts every attack, adopts it and experiences only weak opposition in terms of content – then a point goes almost unnoticed. Because even at the end, questions like “Under what conditions does it want to negotiate?” and “About what goals?” are still open.
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