Latest news with #BSW
Euractiv
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Germany's left-populist Wagenknecht Alliance open to talks with far right AfD
BERLIN – Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the eponymous Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, has indicated she is open to holding political talks with the far-right Alternative for Germany. German mainstream parties including the Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, the Greens, and the socialist Left refuse to cooperate with the AfD at a national level. In May, the country's intelligence services classified the party as "extremist". While denying that any talks were taking place, Wagenknecht told the German press agency dpa that her BSW party could approach the AfD and their co-leader, Tino Chrupalla. 'If you ask me whether I would also talk to Mr Chrupalla if there was a concrete reason to do so, ... [the answer would be] yes, of course," she said. She referred to a controversial meeting in the state of Thuringia between BSW's state parliamentary leader Frank Augsten and the AfD's Björn Höcke, a prominent figure on the party's most extreme wing. By official accounts, the two-hour meeting focused on an ongoing parliamentary deadlock over judicial appointments. Chrupalla welcomed Wagenknecht's openness, claiming that there were ongoing informal talks with BSW. 'We're already speaking about what moves Germany and how we can change majorities,' he told German broadcaster Welt TV . 'Undemocratic' exclusion BSW had split from the Left in 2024 over Wagenknecht's criticism of the party's progressive social and migration policy, which she argued was neglecting the needs of the working class. Critics have since branded her "close to the AfD" and Russia-friendly over her criticism of Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Wagenknecht herself has described her political views as "left-conservative". She has previously ruled out working with the AfD – Germany's second-most popular party –, but criticised its political isolation. "The AfD is currently supported by more than one in five voters," she said. "Exclusion and bans on speech are undemocratic and a slap in the face for these voters, which will only bind them even more to the AfD." The BSW has been going through a rough patch, however. After a number of successful elections in 2024, including the European elections, it failed to win a single seat in Germany's national elections in February. The BSW is yet to join a group in the European Parliament, having failed to launch a new one alongside the remnants of Italy's Five Star Movement. (om)
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany's populist BSW to vote with the right against von der Leyen
Germany's populist BSW wants to vote with right-wing parties against the European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen in a vote of no confidence in the European Parliament next week. The motion of censure was brought forward by Romanian right-wing EU lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea. The two-page document accuses the commission of a lack of transparency and mismanagement, particularly with regard to the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. "As BSW, we will vote in favour of the motion of censure, even though we do not agree with every detail and the motion is mainly supported by right-wing forces whose values and policies we do not share," said Fabio De Masi, spokesman for the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) delegation in the European Parliament. The BSW currently has five of the 720 seats. There is also support for the motion from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). "Von der Leyen's dismissal is long overdue," said AfD MEP Petr Bystron. This has so far been prevented by a left-wing majority, he said. "Of course we as the AfD support the vote of no confidence." De Masi said it was "pathetic" that the majority of the European Parliament did not want to discuss what he termed von der Leyen's "breaches of the law in the Pfizer affair." He charged that she also disempowered the European Parliament with regard to "armament goals" and ignored what he called "breaches of international law in Gaza and the attack on Iran." If the motion of censure is passed, the European Commission would have to resign as a whole. However, such a scenario is considered unlikely because it would require a majority of two thirds of the votes cast and a majority of the Members of Parliament.
Time of India
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Jeffrey Sachs: 'Stop war-mongering...': Jeffrey Sachs mocks Trump, EU at EU Parliament over Ukraine crisis - The Economic Times Video
A packed house in the European Parliament on February 19, 2025, heard Professor Jeffrey Sachs outline the cold realities of US power and Europe's subordination to it. At an event titled The Geopolitics of Peace, hosted by former UN Assistant Secretary General and current BSW MEP Michael von der Schulenburg, Professor Sachs warned the audience, 'To be an enemy of the United States is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal,' and urged Europe to have a 'real' and independent foreign policy - 'A foreign policy that is realistic, that understands Russia's situation, that understands Europe's situation, and that understands what America is and what it stands for.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
EU has purchased €33 billion worth of Russian liquefied natural gas since February 2022
The European Union has imported Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth €32.7 billion since the start of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Source: German news magazine Stern, as reported by European Pravda Details: Stern noted that this figure was provided by the German Federal Statistical Office in response to a request from the pro-Russian Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). According to the data received, the cost of LNG imports from Russia to the EU between February 2022 and March 2025 amounts to almost €33 billion. During the same period, the European Union imported LNG from the United States worth €95.1 billion. In Stern magazine, BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht criticised the costly double standards of the sanctions policy: "€33 billion for Russian LNG since the start of the war, but Russian pipeline gas is deemed taboo in Germany". BSW has long advocated restarting the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the European Parliament's Committee on Security and Defence, however, is calling for a stop to imports of Russian LNG. She said: "It is completely unacceptable that the European Union continues to import liquefied natural gas from Russia worth billions of euros three years after the start of Putin's brutal war of aggression". Background: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz promised to do everything possible to weaken Russia's military machine and prevent the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from becoming operational. The European Union is reportedly close to a decision to include Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 in a new draft of sanctions against Russia, putting an end to rumours about their possible resumption. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Top German court blocks populist party's challenge to election result
Germany's top court on Tuesday rejected a challenge to the results of February's parliamentary elections. The case was brought by the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), which won 4.981% of the vote - falling just short of the 5% required to secure seats in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament. The party filed a legal challenge to the results, arguing that its right to equal opportunity was denied over the failure to carry out a recount, and the BSW's placement on election ballots. The Constitutional Court, based in the south-western city of Karlsruhe, ruled that the complaints were inadmissible. "The applicant has not sufficiently substantiated the possibility of a violation of its right to equal opportunities," it said in a statement. Just one year after emerging as a splinter group from The Left party, the BSW fell 9,529 votes short of reaching the 5% hurdle in February's election. In its challenge, it claimed that up to 32,000 votes for the party were either not counted, or were incorrectly assigned. A successful challenge could have had huge implications for German politics. The new coalition government in Berlin - made up of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union and the centre-left Social Democratic Party - would have lacked a majority in the Bundestag if the BSW had overcome the 5% hurdle.
