How Will German Politics Evolve? Expectations for a Stable Coalition

CGTN Europe

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.

Transcript

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.

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