Politicians from the Greens and the FDP have sharply criticized Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer for his demand that the Ukraine war be “frozen”. “This proposal damages the reputation of the Federal Republic of Germany,” said Green Party member Jamila Schäfer of the “Bild” newspaper. Kretschmer’s advance testifies to “dangerous ignorance”. The freezing of the war since 2014 has caused “thousands of civilian casualties”. Her conclusion: “We should learn from past mistakes instead of repeating them.”
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai also reacted angrily. “Thank God this man is not responsible for our foreign policy,” he told the “Bild”. Kretschmer has “obviously not understood to this day how dangerous Russia is and how important support for Ukraine is.”
Criticism also came from within his own party. CDU member of the Bundestag Matthias Hauer wrote on Twitter: Anyone who, like Kretschmer, suggests that other countries could freeze the war is falling for Russian propaganda.
Kretschmer demanded on Tuesday that Germany should play a mediating role in Russia’s war against Ukraine. “We have to work to ensure that this war is frozen.” It’s about gaining time to be able to invest in security measures. That doesn’t mean that Ukraine should give up territories, said Kretschmer.
It is not about submission and the cession of territories. Russia’s war is an injustice and a crime. But one has to recognize that he is throwing the entire world and Europe into chaos in particular. If the war continues like this, there is a risk of losing the economic power needed to organize security and remain competitive.
According to Kretschmer’s statements, the recalled Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, also spoke up again. He wrote to Kretschmer on Twitter: The Ukrainians advocate “putting your head in a freezer to freeze your hot Russia fantasies. Your constant pandering to war criminal Putin is disgusting.”
