Contacts with Russia become increasingly sparse during the war in Ukraine. Nevertheless, not all contacts should be torn off, according to the CDU. The party wants to differentiate.
Despite the Russian war against Ukraine, the CDU is in favor of maintaining contact with Russia, for example in the cultural sphere. There was agreement that not all bridges to Russia should be burned here, according to CDU leader Friedrich Merz.
After a closed meeting of the CDU leadership in St. Ingbert, Saarland, Merz said: “We want to stay in contact with those who want to continue the exchange with us, especially in the cultural field. And we should also continue it from our side, wherever possible».
CDU differentiates between regime and population
Despite the war in Ukraine, Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) again spoke out in favor of not breaking off all contacts with Russia. One must distinguish between those responsible for the war of aggression and the country and its people, said Kretschmer of the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”. “I don’t think it’s good if we break off all contacts there now, in scientific exchange, in the cultural sector.” He also doesn’t want people of Russian origin in Germany to “now have the feeling that we’re looking at them from the side. We have to stick together here.”
“Russia is not our enemy,” emphasized Merz, who is also chairman of the Union faction in the Bundestag. “We have a despotic government there, a criminal regime that is now waging this war of aggression.” The CDU differentiates very precisely between the government and the Russian population, “from whom we hope and expect that we can be in good contact and in good neighborhood with them in the future and maybe stay with them again at some point”.
receive town twinning
The city partnerships with Russia should not be terminated by the German side either, said Merz. “We want to keep in touch with those who are well-intentioned and those who see this mission in Russia critically – and there are many – we want to keep in touch.” He stressed: «This is a war not of the Russian people against Ukraine. Rather, this is a war by the Russian government and the nomenklatura around (President) Vladimir Putin against a sovereign, democratic country.”
In a decision passed unanimously by the CDU leadership, Putin is expressly described as a war criminal. The International Criminal Court is asked to collect information on all hostilities in Ukraine “and to investigate any act of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes”.
Source: Stern
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