The city council of Schneeberg in Saxony has sent a cross-party fire letter to Economics Minister Robert Habeck, demanding the end of sanctions against Russia. The AfD also signed – does the “fire wall against the right” fall in Saxony?
Inflation, the gas surcharge and the ever increasing energy prices are worrying many citizens. Time and again, local politicians are therefore calling on the government in open fire letters to support people with low incomes and small and medium-sized businesses in particular.
However, the most recent letter from Schneeberg in Saxony is a novelty: the letter addressed to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, is signed by all parties in the Council – from the far left to the far right. In addition to the signature of the non-party mayor Ingo Seifert, there are 22 other signatures of the deputies from the CDU, Freie Wahlen, Linken – and the AfD.
Joint fire letter from the CDU, Left and AfD: Will the “fire wall against the right” fall in Saxony?
In the letter, Mayor Seifert sharply criticizes the traffic light government’s energy policy on behalf of the city council. The rising prices would take on “threatening proportions” as a result of the gas levy that had been decided.
Companies and private households would soon no longer be able to bear the financial burden. Above all, he sees the middle class at risk, which has so far been a “guarantor of social peace”.
Suggestions by government officials against rising energy prices, such as colder or shorter showers, see Seifert as “alibi measures.” In order to relieve the burden on citizens in winter, the sanctions against Russia would have to be questioned and a return to fossil energies would have to be considered.
Seifert deliberately called the letter a “non-partisan call for help”, drawn from the “mood of the population and the local economy”. In addition to the members of the city council, local companies also signed the letter.
In recent years, politicians, especially in Saxony, have repeatedly spoken of a “firewall against the right-wing”. That means: no common cause with the AfD – no matter what it is about. This principle has now been broken.
Left groups and politicians outraged
Left-wing groups and politicians were outraged by the co-signing AfD faction. The member of the Thuringian state parliament Katharina König-Preuss called for “consequences” on Twitter. The Left regional association said: “We didn’t sign this letter and we wouldn’t have it either.” The fact that the two members of the Schneeberg City Council signed the letter was justified by the fact that they did not know that the AfD parliamentary group had also been asked.
According to their own statements, the left wants to “check” the background. The party has been trying to distance itself from right-wing groups for weeks. Right-wing extremists and conspiracy ideologues, along with left-wing politicians, had announced a “hot autumn” if energy prices continued to rise and put an even greater strain on citizens’ incomes.
As the “Spiegel” reports, some in conspiracy groups hoped for a “broad transverse front” from left to right. Leipzig leftist Sören Pellmann recently called on East German citizens to hold Monday demonstrations against the planned gas levy.
Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow warned against making common cause with right-wing extremists. In the case of social protests, “the rule of distance to right-wing extremist organizers” must be observed.
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Source: Stern
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