Discussion after the European elections: A Nazi moment and a need for explanation

analysis

It was a premiere in several respects: For the first time, the broadcaster RTL/ntv welcomed six party leaders to a discussion after a European election. And the constellation of guests had never been seen before on German television: In addition to the CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP, the AfD and the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance were also represented. Under the moderation of Nikolaus Blome, an intense, sometimes fierce exchange of blows developed for an hour, in which even the traffic light parties, which were particularly ruffled on election night, did not expose themselves to one another. star summarizes the most important moments and positions of the participants.

Klingbeil and the Nazi moment

He has had better television appearances. Here and there, you could see how much the SPD result affected Lars Klingbeil. In any case, the substantive emphasis was set by others. But perhaps his thoughts were simply elsewhere: his SPD is on the verge of panic. The chancellor is no longer pulling, the peace sound has failed. Klingbeil and his associates have to start from scratch – one and a quarter years before the next federal election. Although: There is of course still the AfD. Its strong result should trigger a certain mobilization effect in the SPD. With Klingbeil, this was already evident in the elephant round. Many people could now be shaken awake to “the fact that the Nazis have become stronger in this election,” said Klingbeil. “You just called me and the party Nazis?” countered Weidel. “Yes,” said Klingbeil. Even Sahra Wagenknecht intervened. The AfD needs to be viewed in a more differentiated way.

Merz and the election victory

Friedrich Merz was going a little too fast: Moderator Blome started with the topic of Ukraine, but the Union had just become the strongest force. “Perhaps we can talk about the European elections first,” said CDU leader Merz – and insisted on repeatedly pointing to the success. He went into the election campaign together with the incumbent Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, said Merz. “And we won by a wide margin.” Later, the moderator declared AfD leader Weidel and the Left Party defector Wagenknecht to be the two winners of the evening, when Merz intervened: the election winner would surely be the CDU and CSU. Overall, Merz appeared calm – and made his points as opposition leader: The result also showed that the traffic light policy, including the “constant paternalism”, had been voted out.

Nouripour and the need for explanation

Sure, Scholz and the SPD are both in the depths of crisis – but the Greens are the bigger losers on election night, at least in terms of numbers. As their co-chair, Omid Nouripour had the thankless task of somehow explaining the less than 12 percent debacle, while leaving roughly the same impression that his party made throughout the entire election campaign: there too.

“Has green Europe been buried today?” the moderator wants to know from Nouripour, after all, this green collapse was to be seen in several EU countries. But Nouripour first has to accuse Sahra Wagenknecht of having been there just before Putin’s invasion… And Sahra Wagenknecht is talking again.

Lindner and the Basta appearance

FDP party leader Christian Lindner came into the studio still in election campaign mode – and started off by attacking the SPD, his favorite topic: citizens’ income. Too expensive, not targeted, in urgent need of reform. For a moment, it was easy to forget that Lindner was governing with his comrades. Before anyone could frame him as the overwhelmed treasurer of the republic, the finance minister himself suggested what needed to be re-prioritized: less money for aid worldwide, and more for Ukraine. This also went against the Greens. There’s no question that these will be lively budget negotiations.

In the duel with Friedrich Merz, Lindner briefly switched to the role of opposition. The finance minister tied his support for Ursula von der Leyen to a change of course by the EU Commission: no community debt, no ban on combustion engines. Merz had to smile. This change of course had long since been implemented, said the CDU leader. It was not the only moment in which Merz and Lindner argued like two old friends who have experienced simpler times together. At some point they ended up with the good old Ricola question: tightening the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act – who invented it? Lindner was not put off by the CDU leader’s mockery. Sometimes just five percent is enough for a Basta appearance.

Weidel and the contradiction

Alice Weidel had a good election result behind her – and no problem with exposing herself. On the subject of the war in Ukraine, the AfD leader criticized the one-sided demonization of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the fact that the shooting of civilians in Russia by Ukrainian troops was not mentioned. At times, the AfD leader also got into an argument with moderator Blome, who repeatedly put Weidel’s claims into context with additional facts. Weidel described climate protection as a serious disadvantage for the location, and tens of thousands of companies in Germany were going under because of the high price of electricity. With regard to the knife attacker in Mannheim, a suspected Islamist who murdered a police officer, Weidel said: The man should never have been in Germany. Blome contradicted her again and pointed out that the man had had protected status.

Wagenknecht and peace

The war in Ukraine and migration – these were the most important topics for Sahra Wagenknecht. The chairwoman of the alliance named after her criticized the fact that the opportunity for peace negotiations was not being used. There had been signals from the Kremlin that they were ready to negotiate, and Germany had responded by allowing Ukraine to fire German weapons into Russian territory. However, she contradicted the impression that she had sympathy for Vladimir Putin. “I want to end this war.” On the issue of migration, she harped on the alleged 250,000 refugees who actually have no protection status but are allowed to stay and collect money anyway. If you don’t get uncontrolled migration under control, “at some point you’ll have a poisoned atmosphere.”

Transparency note: Der stern is part of RTL Deutschland.