German state parliament backs AfD-BSW motion against Russia sanctions
Saxony-Anhalt's legislature passed a joint motion by the far-right AfD and the BSW calling for an end to sanctions and arms deliveries. Wagenknecht: 'The firewall has failed.'
Symbolic image · Photo: © Ra Boe / Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 de (cropped and resized)
The newly elected state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt on Wednesday passed a joint motion by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left-populist BSW at a special session. Titled "Peace talks instead of expanding the war in Ukraine", it calls for an immediate lifting of economic sanctions against Russia, a halt to arms deliveries to Ukraine and an end to non-humanitarian financial aid, according to dpa. The state government is to pursue this via the Bundesrat upper house.
The AfD and BSW together hold a majority of seats. Rival motions by the Left party and by the Social Democrats and Greens failed. The vote is largely symbolic, as the state has no say over EU sanctions. BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht told t-online: "The firewall has failed," adding that her party would work with shifting majorities.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of the Christian Democrats pushed back: "We are increasing the pressure until Putin is ready to negotiate seriously about peace in Ukraine." The special session came one week after the legislature's inaugural sitting.