Should Vladimir Putin be afraid of German Greens? – American Enterprise Institute

In a striking about-face, Germanys Greens are emerging as the most visible hawks in discussions over the countrys foreign policy, especially regarding Russia. Last month, the party co-chair, Cem zdemir, called for a tightening of sanctions against Russia. Were seeing an escalation in Eastern Ukraine, he explained.

Of Turkish descent himself, he also made a case for more pressure on the regime in Turkey, particularly using economic tools. German investors, he says, need to understand that Turkey is no place for secure investment, because there is no rule of law there.

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on during a news conference at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany July 8, 2017. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS

For many years, the Greens tune was different. Throughout the 2000s, the partys leader and foreign minister, Joschka Fischer, was a leading European critic of US foreign policy. In 2014, the Greens-EFA group in the European Parliament of which the German Greens are a member tried to nominate Edward Snowden for Nobel Peace Prize. In the same year, the Greens dismissed as irresponsible the calls for a stronger NATO presence on Europes Eastern flank.

To some extent, the Greens long nurtured an internationalist outlook and a distrust of Russia. During Mr. Fischers tenure as foreign minister in the cabinet of Chancellor Gerhard Schrder, Germany took part in NATOs intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and later joined the coalition fighting Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. After leaving the government, Mr. Fischer was also critical of his former boss entanglements with Russia. Just last week, Mr. Schrder, who is also working for the Gazprom-led consortium building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to German, was nominated by the Russian government to join the board of directors of Rosneft.

Whereas few expect Chancellor Angela Merkel to be unseated in the election held on September 24, her coalition partners will shape Germanys and by extension, the EUs posture in its Eastern neighborhood.

Ms. Merkel is already under pressure from CDUs sister party in Bavaria, CSU, to bring the sanctions against Russia to an end. That pressure will only increase if the grand coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD) continues after the election. Quite apart from Mr. Schrders Russian misadvetures, the SPDs former leader and Germanys Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has been long calling for an end to the EUs sanctions. And, on top of that, the partys current leader, the populist Martin Schulz, even rejects NATOs 2% spending target, calling it the wrong goal.

The combination of navet, sanctimony, and crude material interests although in different proportions is not limited to SPD. Unsurprisingly, populists of different stripes, including The Left and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), are the most reliable allies of the Kremlin. Back in 2015, representatives of The Left even delivered humanitarian assistance to the self-styled authorities of the Donetsk Peoples Republic. Earlier this year, at the Russian Dumas invitation, the AfDs leader Frauke Petry met in Moscow with a range of high-profile parliamentarians.

On the list of Ms. Merkels prospective coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP) flaunt solid classical liberal credentials and a compelling, pro-market agenda at home. Yet, their leader Christian Lindner called recently for a new approach to German-Russian relations, which would recognize the annexation of Crimea as a permanent provisional arrangement. Notwithstanding a small number of critical voices in the party most prominently Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, who currently serves as a Vice-president of European Parliament appeasement of Russia has been a part of FDPs toolbox since Russias attack against Ukraine in 2014.

A coalition between Ms. Merkels Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Greens thus appears to be the most likely, if not the only, path toward keeping Russia at bay in the critical run-up to the Russian presidential election in March 2018. As September 24 approaches, expect the eyes of the Kremlins trolls, hackers, and useful idiots to be set primarily on them as opposed to the long list of Putin Verstehers present in German politics.

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Should Vladimir Putin be afraid of German Greens? - American Enterprise Institute