The recent decision by the German government to send battle tanks to Ukraine has sparked criticism from opposition groups and the general public. Sevim Dağdelen (pictured), a member of the opposition Left Party, elected to the German parliament, spoke out against the move during a recent interview on DemocracyNow. She accused the German Greens and the liberal coalition partners of succumbing to the heavy pressure from the United States Biden administration, leading to a historic wrong decision.
According to recent polls, the majority of the German population is against sending battle tanks to Ukraine and is in favor of more diplomacy and a negotiated peace in Ukraine. Dağdelen also warned of the potential consequences of the move, including a heightened mobilization in Russia and the destruction of the relationship between Germany and Russia.
the pressure now was too heavy, too strong from the Biden administration to send Germany in the frontline of this war. And it was the pressure of the coalition partners, the Greens and the liberals — they are actually the neocons in this coalition in Germany. They officially said that they would breach the coalition if these battle tanks, Leopard 2, wouldn’t be sent by Chancellor Scholz to Ukraine. That was the problem. And we are now in a very bad situation
Sevim Dağdelen, German Left Party
Dağdelen also criticized the German media for its role in promoting a warmongering atmosphere in the country, claiming that many editors are involved with transatlantic think tanks that serve the interests of the United States. She added that the sending of tanks to Ukraine is also in the interest of the U.S. fracking industry and military-industrial complex.
The 31st of January will be the anniversary, the 80th anniversary, of the battle in Stalingrad. And every family in Russia lost loved ones in this battle in Stalingrad. And you do not have to be a prophet to know that sending German tanks against Russia in this proxy war of the United States will have a way more mobilization in the Russian society in this war. So, that means you have the opposite impact what you want actually within Russia towards this war. And this is why it is historically so wrong to send battle tanks.
Sevim Dağdelen, German Left Party
Dağdelen slammed the Green foreign minister in Germany, Annalena Baerbock, for declaring that Germany is now at war against Russia. She warns that the push by the Biden administration to involve Germany in this proxy war could potentially lead to a Third World War. The opposition Left Party is calling for more diplomacy and a negotiated peace in Ukraine, rather than a military solution.
All these people who are fantasizing about a victory against Russia, they are underestimating Russia like Napoleon and Hitler did in the past. And, you know, it’s a nuclear — the most powerful nuclear power in the world. And there is no way to win a war, a conventional war, against such a nuclear power. And this is the dangerous part of this discussion, that, on the one hand side, they all are saying that President Putin from Russia is insane and he’s crazy and he’s a monster and whatever, and they’re trying to demonize him, like they did in the past with Saddam Hussein or Gaddafi or anyone else they wanted to put down — and the thing is, they say he’s crazy, but, on the other side, they say, “Well, it’s a bluff. We don’t think that Putin is so irrational to use nuclear weapons.” I mean, come on. We cannot seriously debate of using nuclear weapons, because if they will be used once, it’s the end of the human civilization, at least in Europe, maybe not in the United States, but in Europe definitely. And that makes me really worried about it, this debate.
Sevim Dağdelen, German Left Party
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