Far-right gains in recent regional elections won’t impact ‘thriving’ India-Germany ties: Envoy
New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) German Ambassador to India Jasper Wieck on Wednesday said the electoral gains of the far-right in recent regional elections in his country would have “no impact on the thriving Indo-German partnership”, while dismissing concerns that the results could affect cooperation on migration, mobility, technology, development, or the EU-India Free Trade Agreement.
“We recently had regional elections in Saxony-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, the capital of Germany. We have seen considerable gains for the far-right, particularly the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The central question that many of my Indian friends have asked me is whether these election results will have an impact on Indo-German relations. In particular, will they affect our cooperation on migration and mobility, technological cooperation, development cooperation, or the EU-India Free Trade Agreement? My answer is no. They will have no impact on our thriving Indo-German partnership,” Wieck said at a press conference here.
The far-right AfD won the state election in Saxony-Anhalt with a record 44.5 per cent of the vote, while the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), led by incumbent state leader Sven Schulze, suffered a heavy blow, plunging to 18.5 per cent, down from 37.1 per cent in 2021.
In the 83-seat state parliament, the AfD is projected to secure 39 seats, three seats shy of an absolute majority needed to govern alone.
The AfD’s 35-year-old state lead candidate Ulrich Siegmund hailed the result, declaring that “the people have sent a clear signal.”
On why the recent regional election results are unlikely to affect the India-Germany strategic partnership, Wieck said that Germany’s federal policies are governed by the Constitution and federal legislation, while the election results did not give the AfD a majority in any of the three states to govern alone.
“First of all, our foreign policy, security policy, migration policy, and economic and trade policy are all conducted within the legal framework of our Constitution and federal legislation. Regional elections and regional governments, as well as the governments of individual states, do not have the authority to shape or determine these federal policies,” he said.
“Secondly, if you take a closer look at the results of these elections, you will see that in none of the three states did the AfD achieve a majority that would allow it to govern alone. To the contrary, in all three cases, governments will continue to be formed through the established democratic and constitutional processes,” he added.
Highlighting the growing defence and security partnership between India and Germany, Wieck further said that the cooperation has developed tremendously over the past few years.
“I think it started with port visits by German naval vessels, including the Bayern, Frankfurt am Main and Rheinland-Pfalz. Since then, German naval vessels have continued to make port visits to India, and German maritime and air forces have participated in military exercises in India. Next week, Germany will participate in an Air Force exercise with India, with the German Air Force deploying an A400M aircraft,” he added.
–IANS
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