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BERLIN taz | The AfD has recently presented itself as a peace movement. The inner-party reaction to a decision by the Junge Alternative (JA), which called for “nuclear weapons for Germany” at its federal congress last weekend, shows how much this commitment is worth.
While party leader and parliamentary group leader Tino Chrupalla has been persistently warning of a new Cold War, his parliamentary group colleague, spokesman for defense policy Rüdiger Lucassen, has praised the JA decision in the World: “Credible deterrence requires nuclear capabilities. So anyone who wants to protect our country as independently as possible against military threats must seriously consider Germany’s nuclear armament.”
Along with the newly chosen one JA boss Hannes Gnauck he is already the second member of the AfD parliamentary group to call for nuclear armament in Germany. In the case of Gnauck, the demand sounded primarily like a nationalist urge to gain recognition: the soldier, who was classified as an extremist by the military intelligence service, explained why the requirement with it, wanting to be more “than just a bargaining chip for foreign hegemonic powers”. In the 21st century, only states that have their own nuclear weapons can act sovereignly, according to Gnauck: “And that’s exactly why we also want nuclear weapons for Germany.” Gnauck and Lucassen sit together in the working group on defense policy.
Arming Germany with nuclear weapons would not only be a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Two Plus Four Treaty, but also deviates from its own election program: before the last federal election, the AfD called for the global abolition of NBC weapons. “The goal must be the withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from Germany,” it said.
The move is likely to cause a controversy within the party: in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine the AfD supported Putin-friendly positions, but especially with the refusal of arms deliveries, the AfD tried to present itself as peaceful. When asked about the call for nuclear weapons in Germany, a party spokesman on behalf of federal spokesmen Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said “that this demand does not correspond to their position”.
Parliamentary group manager Bernd Baumann said at a press conference in the Bundestag on Tuesday morning that the “complex topic” was also discussed the day before at the parliamentary group executive committee meeting on Monday. Otherwise, he tried to capture the public discussion: “This is a fundamental programmatic issue, which we have to discuss exactly at party level in the responsible specialist committees,” said Baumann. There is still no formation of an opinion within the group.
BERLIN taz | The AfD has recently presented itself as a peace movement. The inner-party reaction to a decision by the Junge Alternative (JA), which called for “nuclear weapons for Germany” at its federal congress last weekend, shows how much this commitment is worth.
While party leader and parliamentary group leader Tino Chrupalla has been persistently warning of a new Cold War, his parliamentary group colleague, spokesman for defense policy Rüdiger Lucassen, has praised the JA decision in the World: “Credible deterrence requires nuclear capabilities. So anyone who wants to protect our country as independently as possible against military threats must seriously consider Germany’s nuclear armament.”
Along with the newly chosen one JA boss Hannes Gnauck he is already the second member of the AfD parliamentary group to call for nuclear armament in Germany. In the case of Gnauck, the demand sounded primarily like a nationalist urge to gain recognition: the soldier, who was classified as an extremist by the military intelligence service, explained why the requirement with it, wanting to be more “than just a bargaining chip for foreign hegemonic powers”. In the 21st century, only states that have their own nuclear weapons can act sovereignly, according to Gnauck: “And that’s exactly why we also want nuclear weapons for Germany.” Gnauck and Lucassen sit together in the working group on defense policy.
Arming Germany with nuclear weapons would not only be a violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Two Plus Four Treaty, but also deviates from its own election program: before the last federal election, the AfD called for the global abolition of NBC weapons. “The goal must be the withdrawal of all nuclear weapons from Germany,” it said.
The move is likely to cause a controversy within the party: in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine the AfD supported Putin-friendly positions, but especially with the refusal of arms deliveries, the AfD tried to present itself as peaceful. When asked about the call for nuclear weapons in Germany, a party spokesman on behalf of federal spokesmen Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said “that this demand does not correspond to their position”.
Parliamentary group manager Bernd Baumann said at a press conference in the Bundestag on Tuesday morning that the “complex topic” was also discussed the day before at the parliamentary group executive committee meeting on Monday. Otherwise, he tried to capture the public discussion: “This is a fundamental programmatic issue, which we have to discuss exactly at party level in the responsible specialist committees,” said Baumann. There is still no formation of an opinion within the group.
