Our graphic summarizes him as former Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the countries former Minister of Finance. More than that, Oskar Lafontaine was the social democrat’s candidate for Chancellor in 1990. Not an easy task, given that on that year, the two Germanys reunited. Lafontaine lost the elections – but maintained his political activities till today. This shows his enduring, principled and engaged position in politics beyond personnel career.
For the same reason, he later left the Social Democrat Party and joined the Left Party, following his convictions. But the Left Party did not offer him a satisfying political home, hence, he again left and co-founded the Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW, for its initials in German). The party presented himself to elections first time on June 9, in the context of the European Parliament, and achieved 6% of the votes in Germany – while the Left stayed at 3%.
The BSW is founded and practically led by Sahra Wagenknecht, to whom Lafontaine is married since 2014.
We interviewed Oskar Lafontaine in Berlin, Germany, on the evening of the elections to the European Parliament.
The world is changing, new structures are forming in the world. The time when the USA alone determined world politics is over. The South has become more and more of a factor, and I welcome that very much. I believe that Europe must find its place, and it can only be between the various rising powers. Europe should become a force for peace, it should mediate between the USA, China, Russia and the South, including the large nations that are now joining.
That is the place for Europe, and I believe that it would also be its obligation, given the history of Europeans towards the South, for example, to always keep the colonial period in mind and to deduce from this that they contribute to the South being able to develop in peace.
“Negotiate 100 days instead of shooting for one minute”
In this context, how do you assess the conflict in Ukraine? Is this an opportunity for Europe, perhaps together with China, to mediate a diplomatic solution?
Yes, from our point of view, this would be an opportunity for Europe to mediate, to work with China, with the South, because it cannot be that we watch people die every day, that we experience a policy every day that has its origins in the First World War, that people are being allowed to die senselessly and that it is only a question of whether a few kilometers more or less are conquered.
There would have been an opportunity to make peace two years ago, that has now been proven, and I hope that sooner or later we will be able to make peace, because as a former Chancellor once said, it is better to negotiate for 100 days than to shoot for a minute. You can see that support for such a line is growing in Germany among social forces, trade unions, and also businesspeople.
A line that focuses on peace, on diplomacy, that opposes sanctions, opposes militarization. Unfortunately, in recent years, US propaganda has been able to spread in Germany. That cannot be overlooked, not only in Germany, but throughout Europe, also to support this policy of confrontation. But I have the feeling – and that is why we were founded as a new party – that people are now looking for an alternative, that they realize that we cannot carry on like this, lest there be a major European war.
Shift to the Right
Your comment on this shift to the right or the shift towards populism, how do you see it?
The shift to the right is always a result of misguided social policy. That was the case in history, before the First World War, before the Second World War. Now it is the case again.
Not least for this reason, we founded the new party, to say that we want an adequate welfare state again, but we also want a peace policy. And that is why it is necessary that this party, which also differs from the AfD, which has become strong in Germany, in that it does not support, for example, Israel’s war crimes in the Gaza Strip. It is necessary that there is a party that says that war crimes are war crimes, no matter who commits them.
Thank you very much.
This interview was conducted on behalf of TeleSUR and first published there in Spanish. Translation to English by UWI.