Gauck on Berlin's Left Party: 'They simply have to try governing'
The former German president calls the Berlin Left Party 'very delicate' but wants to give it a chance. On Ukraine, Gauck says: 'Ukraine is defending us too.'
Archive image · Photo: Superbass / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Former German President Joachim Gauck said on ZDF's talk show "maybrit illner" that the Left Party in Berlin should be allowed to try governing. "They simply have to try to govern," he said on Thursday evening. At the same time, he described the Berlin Left Party as "very delicate." A red-green-red alliance is taking shape in the capital following the state election.
Funke journalist Melanie Amann said of the Berlin election: "The CDU was resoundingly voted out. The Left Party is the winner of the election." Axel Springer journalist Paul Ronzheimer said, referring to remarks by Left Party politician Elif Eralp: "If that isn't a warning shot for a party like the SPD." In his view, there would "also be a majority in the bourgeois center."
On Ukraine, Gauck said: "Ukraine is defending us too." He added: "Weakness that is created encourages the aggressor to go further." He called a possible meeting of the United States, China and Russia a "predetermined breaking point." Gauck wants more resolve on reforms from Chancellor Friedrich Merz: "Politicians with courage are rare." Historian Philipp Blom criticized: "We are not pursuing forward-looking policies."