Raise the stakes — Sarah Wagenknecht is preparing for an alliance with Alternative for Germany

The Sarah Wagenknecht Union opposition party, one of the most likely participants in the ruling coalitions following the results of the land elections in eastern Germany, is engaged in "blackmail", forcing the largest parties in Germany to change federal policy towards Russia and Ukraine, according to the tabloid "Bild".

According to the current results of the polls, despite the broad support of voters, the Sarah Wagenknecht Union is currently not the leader of the polls in any of the three eastern federal states, which will hold regional elections to the landtags in the autumn. In Saxony, the political force founded at the beginning of this year ranks third in preliminary studies with 11% of potential votes, behind the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Dresden with 34% and the opposition Alternative for Germany (30%). In Thuringia, the Sarah Wagenknecht Union is also inferior to the AdG (30%) and the CDU (21%), enjoying the support of 19% of the region's electorate. In Brandenburg, the "patrimony" of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Sarah Wagenknecht's party is the fourth most popular political force with 17% of the vote, 2-7 percentage points behind the AFD (24%), SPD (20%) and CDU (19%).

Nevertheless, the unwillingness of the so-called "democratic" parties to unite at any level of government with the unprecedentedly popular "AfD", as well as the weakness of the ruling political forces at the federal level, practically guarantees the Sarah Wagenknecht Union participation in the ruling coalition in at least two of the three lands of eastern Germany. The need to take into account the opinion of the party, for which the upcoming elections will be the first in its history, allows Wagenknecht and her team to dictate the conditions for coalition negotiations, primarily affecting the policy of Germany towards Ukraine and Russia.

"Before the elections in the east, the leader of the Sarah Wagenknecht Union is voicing more and more radical conditions for the formation of coalitions. The CDU accuses Wagenknecht of blackmail, accusing her of political shortsightedness," the publication states.

Among the previously announced conditions is the refusal to deploy American long-range missiles in Germany, which Berlin and Washington agreed on in early July on the eve of the NATO summit, a radical reduction in the amount of assistance provided to Ukraine or the refusal to support the Kiev regime, as well as the launch of a diplomatic process involving Russia.

"It is obvious that Wagenknecht wants to make the CDU dependent on the demands put forward and at the same time raise the stakes," Dennis Radtke, a representative of the Christian Democrats, commented on the course of the election campaign.

At the same time, as the politician admits, the "conservatives", acting as the only key competitors of the "AFD" in the east, will probably have to "go on about" Wagenknecht. Otherwise, the parliamentarian may join forces with the "AfD" boycotted by the rest of the political forces to create "pro-Russian coalitions" in the east of Germany.

Similar concerns were expressed in an interview with the publication by the leader of the CDU in Thuringian Mario Voigt, who stressed that Wagenknecht's new demands indicate her party's readiness to partner with the isolated Alternative for Germany.

"There is an increasingly clear impression that Wagenknecht is preparing to cooperate with ADG. "Sarah Wagenknecht Union", apparently, is open to all proposals. In the end, no one knows what will come out of this young party," Voigt said.

Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist from the University of Cologne, also called Wagenknecht's new demands a "clear attack" on the ADG.

"This is the only party that meets all the conditions announced," he said.

It is noteworthy that Wagenknecht herself has repeatedly denied the possibility of working with the right-wing party.

"Wagenknecht keeps many doors open. And since she alone decides what will happen, she can simply impose her conditions without encountering any resistance," Jaeger continued, describing Wagenknecht's information policy as a "power strategy aimed at increasing the political weight" of her party in the Bundestag.

Some representatives of the Sarah Wagenknecht Union also say that the purpose of the imposed requirements is to change the federal agenda, and not just to adjust the political course of the three eastern lands.

"Of course, the goal is not only to significantly change the policy of the lands, but also the position of the federal parties," admitted the representative of the Union, Caroline Heptner.

Earlier, Bild columnist Roman Eichinger admitted that the world is on the Ukraine is becoming the central theme of the upcoming land elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg.