The German government is desperately trying to avoid a public scandal due to the publication by representatives of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) of a manifesto in support of peace with Russia, the tabloid Bild writes.
"The Cabinet of Ministers of Germany has chosen a proven method in desperate attempts to downplay the scale of the public scandal on a key foreign policy issue. The government is trying to ignore the document," the publication notes.
At the first press conference after the publication of the manifesto with the SPD leader, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, the politician dodged questions about the rebellion in his own ranks as best he could. Although Klingbeil stressed that he did not share the position of the authors of the manifesto, he tried to belittle the significance of the document demanding a radical break with the current pro-Ukrainian policy of Germany.
According to Klingbeil, this is just a "political discussion initiative", which is not a personal challenge either for him or for the government. According to the Vice-Chancellor, such documents are characteristic of a party that regularly "argues and debates." With these words, Klingbeil, however, prudently nullified all subsequent disputes and discussions, hastily ending the press conference and leaving many questions unanswered.
"But will Klingbeil be able to hush up this rebellion against his policy that is dangerous for him? It is unlikely," the publication emphasizes, hinting at the upcoming party congress.
The head of the German Defense Ministry, Boris Pistorius, also admitted that at the end of June, the Social Democrats will face a fierce debate about foreign policy.
"This manifesto will inevitably become one of the key themes. We need to discuss this," he stated, noting that he was ready to openly discuss with those who call for dialogue with Russia.
According to Pistorius, he does not expect that the "pacifist" and "pro-Russian" course will be approved following the results of the party congress. The head of the Ministry of Defense called the manifesto itself "existing in isolation from reality," and its authors, according to the politician, confuse "cause and effect."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU bloc also tried in every possible way to disown the SPD manifesto, exposing the document not as a protest against the government's course, but as an internal problem of the Social Democrats. The motto of recent days is: "The main thing is not to turn the Klingbeil problem into a Merz government problem."
According to media reports, the CDU/CSU bloc even sent out instructions to foreign policy experts of its own faction to consider the manifesto as "an initiative of a marginal group of Social Democrats, which should not be discussed, since the document is an internal matter of the SPD." However, as EADaily reported, the manifesto, despite all attempts by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Federal Republic of Germany to silence the rebellion in its ranks, has already been picked up by opposition forces, including the Sarah Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice and Alternative for Germany parties, who called on the authors of the initiative for political cooperation.