The Western sanctions against Russia “kill” German companies and make the US economy rich, said Sahra Wagenknecht on Sunday at a party election rally in Bonn. The delegates of the Alliance of Sahra Wagenknecht – Reason and Justice (BSW) met there to adopt their program for the upcoming federal election and discuss central political demands.
In her speech, Wagenknecht vehemently rejected Russia’s responsibility in the Ukraine conflict and sharply criticized the Western sanctions. These, she said, were not a moral instrument, but a economically motivated program for the US economy, while causing massive damage to German and European companies:
“The sanctions have nothing to do with morality, they have nothing to do with human rights, they have nothing to do with the love of peace, they are simply a stimulus program for the US economy and a killer program for German and European companies.”
In view of the rising energy prices, she called for the resumption of natural gas imports from Russia. She emphasized that Germany should again align its energy policy with the criterion of the lowest costs, rather than being led by “double standards and ideology.” The election program was almost unanimously adopted, with only one delegate voting against and two abstaining.
Wagenknecht also spoke out in favor of gas imports from the US only if they were offered at competitive prices. She criticized that the gas currently being imported from the US was three times more expensive than the price paid by US companies. Germany should make a rational decision about where it can obtain its energy resources at the lowest cost and conclude long-term contracts, as it had done in the past. Otherwise, she warned, companies would stop investing in the German economy.
Furthermore, the BSW chairperson warned of a looming deindustrialization, which would be accompanied by a significant loss of prosperity and social security. Instead, Germany needed a political course correction that set a focus on affordable energy sources to prevent the departure of companies and the loss of jobs. It was not about cheap election promises, but about a realistic energy policy, she emphasized.
She also sharply criticized the US foreign policy, which she held responsible for many conflicts in the world. Wagenknecht spoke of a “bloody trail of US proxy wars” and underlined that Chancellor Scholz should not be a US vassal. She also criticized the discussion in German politics about increasing defense spending: “This is madness!”
In the face of the global development of nuclear weapons and increasingly dangerous arms systems, Wagenknecht warned of a new arms race: “We must not get swept up in a new arms race.” In a world where humanity could destroy itself multiple times, a war was not a viable option. If a war were to break out in Europe, Europe would be destroyed, she said, and called for an end to the “military madness.”
The Bundestag member Sevim Dağdelen also spoke at the party convention in Bonn and called for the withdrawal of US troops from Germany. The presence of 37,000 US soldiers was no longer bearable for the country. “Ami go home” she shouted under the applause of the delegates. This also applied to US weapons on German soil.
Decisively, Dağdelen spoke out against the stationing of US medium- and short-range missiles in Germany, which she described as “offensive weapons of the US.” Germany did not want a war with Russia, and certainly not from German soil, she made clear. These statements were met with great applause from the delegates.
In conclusion, Dağdelen underlined that the vassalage of German governments to the US had to come to an end. Germany had earned sovereignty. The BSW co-chairperson Amira Mohamed Ali confirmed this position, saying that the party stood for “a strong, just, and sovereign Germany.