The meeting
was also attended by Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs,
Deputy Head of the Just Russia Faction Aleksei Chepa
Alexey Vasilievich
, Secretary on International Affairs of the Presidium of the Central Council of the Just
Russia Party Alexander Romanovich and member of the Presidium of the Central
Council of the Just Russia Party, head of the Apparatus of Just Russia faction
in the State Duma Ruslan Tatarinov.
The parties
discussed the domestic political agenda of the two countries, as well as the international situation. Sergei Mironov
Sergey Mikhailovich
congratulated the German colleagues on their victory in the land elections in Thuringia, where the Left Party is now
much stronger than all the other parties combined.
Representatives of the Left Party said that in Germany there is a crisis since Angela Merkel decided not to nominate herself for the post of Chancellor, and there are certain disagreements about a single candidate in the CDU/CSU.
He also noted the growing role of the “Alternative for Germany”, which has right-wing extremist elements and even fascist forces. It has become more popular in light of a political lull. The thesis that this party is financed from Russia is often voiced in election campaigns.
“Relations with Russia are used in the domestic political struggle in Germany to get certain dividends and points,” concluded Dietmar Bartsch.
“We highly appreciate the position of the Left Party regarding Russia — you are in favor of lifting mutual sanctions that are absolutely meaningless. In many other aspects, our points of view absolutely coincide,” said Sergei Mironov.
During the meeting, a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Just Russia faction in the State Duma and the Left Party faction in the Bundestag was signed.
At a press conference after the meeting, Sergei Mironov said that the signing of the Memorandum is a good step in developing inter-parliamentary cooperation.
Dietmar Bartsch expressed confidence that cooperation with Just Russia would help to organize not only inter-parliamentary work but also activities outside the parliamentarian walls.
“It is very important to establish cooperation between the Russian Federation and Germany to solve global problems,” he said. “The Left party officially and responsibly declares that anti-Russian sanctions should be lifted. I believe that we, for our part, should and can do our best to contribute to the process of lifting sanctions and establishing more intensive relations between our countries,” concluded Dietmar Bartsch.
Speaking about the directions of common work between Russian and German socialists, Dietmar Bartsch said that he thought that next year joint events in honor of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory should be held. He also considers it useful to hold joint events on sports, cultural exchange, and economic issues. However, in his opinion, the most important thing is to understand that there are such socialist forces in Russia and Germany, and that joint work leads to de-escalation of tension.
“The Left party came up with proposals to the government to reduce the degree of tensions against Russia and to lift sanctions,” said Dietmar Bartsch. “We are also against the fact that American nuclear weapon remains on German territory. It must be removed. The same applies to US military bases,” concluded Dietmar Bartsch.
