Ulrich Brückner, Professor for European Studies at Stanford University Berlin spoke to CGTN Europe on German election, expressing optimism about a coalition government that supports Ukraine and addresses climate change.
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Let's talk now to Ulrich Bruckner, Professor of European Studies at Stanford University in Berlin.
00:06Ulrich, you're a seasoned observer of German politics.
00:10What are you expecting? What do you think will be the outcome?
00:14Well, I'm much more optimistic than Peter Oliver because this election is basically about do we
00:21continue with what Germany stands for and what the core beliefs are in the center of the political
00:28spectrum or are we dreaming of a different Germany and rather try out disruptive politics?
00:36And when you look at the polls, 80% of Germans rather want to continue with all the doubts and
00:43the questions and the fear they express. They will vote for a party that basically
00:49clusters in the center. So even if Peter is right with three parties are difficult to manage in a
00:56coalition, they basically stand for the same thing. Supporting Ukraine, the social market
01:03economy, climate change is real. We have seen the changes in the American position towards
01:10collective security. So they agree on the same diagnosis and therefore it is quite likely that
01:17they will form a stable coalition. What would you say is fueling the rise of the AFD?
01:25I mean, the AFD, the far right has always been a presence in German politics, but it's doing
01:30significantly well at the moment. Why is that?
01:35Well, we have seen in the previous elections that for whatever reason, maybe it's the media,
01:40maybe it's what people think it is the top priority, that there's always a focus on one
01:47issue. And last time it was climate, which brought the Green Party to its highest support ever in
01:54history. And this time, as Peter rightly said, it's migration, migration. But when you look at
01:59the numbers, migration is going down. And it's not just a question of Germany to fix it. We can only
02:06fix the problem in a comprehensive approach on the European Union level, because we don't have
02:13internal borders in the European Union and Germany is surrounded by other EU members. So you can only
02:18do it by a comprehensive approach. Why this has not been addressed and why the scope hasn't been
02:25broadened? I don't know. I've seen a number of television discussions in which climate
02:32or the new geopolitical situation was not even addressed with a single question. Instead,
02:37we discussed whether it helps Germany's competitiveness if you deport people to
02:44Syria and Afghanistan. This is totally nuts. And it also ruins the reputation of Germany
02:50that is massively dependent on skilled labor immigrating to Germany because we are an aging
02:56and shrinking society. Whoever wins, whatever the color of any possible coalition, Germany still
03:04faces enormous challenges, doesn't it? Those don't go away. Yeah, we have a long list. We are still
03:14in a process of transforming from a fossil-based economy to a renewable-based one. We see a totally
03:21different geopolitical situation when the Trump administration sings the song of Putin and throws
03:28Ukraine under the bus with all the consequences for collective security right in front of us.
03:35We see a losing competitiveness on the German end because of a number of disruptive supply
03:42chains and a different relationship with China. So there is so much and everything is super
03:47expensive in times of very tight budgetary constraints. So whoever was in power and
03:54whoever will be in power faces the same challenges. And everyone who believes that
03:59simple solutions will guide us in a brighter future simply lies. Ulrich, good to see you.
04:05Thank you for that. Ulrich Bruckner, Professor of European Studies at Stanford University in Berlin.