Russia-friendly German lawmakers boycott Zelenskyy’s Bundestag speech

Emboldened by gains in Sunday’s (9 June) EU elections, German far-right lawmakers boycotted the speech by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Bundestag on Tuesday, saying he should stop the war and reach a peaceful settlement with Moscow.

Zelenskyy was invited to address the German parliament in person for the first time – after a virtual address in 2022 – as part of his visit to Berlin, where he attended the third Ukraine Recovery Conference. 

However, most lawmakers of the far-right AfD and the new left-conservative BSW party, boycotted Zelensky’s speech. 

“We refuse to listen to a speaker in a camouflage suit,” AfD parliamentary group leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said in a statement, referring to Zelenskyy’s usual attire of military fatigues.

Ukraine needs “a peace president who is willing to negotiate so that the dying stops and the country has a future,” they added.

BSW MP Sevim Dagdelen told AFP that their decision was “a signal of solidarity with all those Ukrainians who want an immediate ceasefire and a negotiated solution, instead of being forcibly recruited by President Zelenskyy as cannon fodder for an unwinnable war”.

AfD and BSW oppose sanctions against Russia and Western weapon deliveries to Ukraine. Both parties made considerable gains in the EU elections in Germany on Sunday, as did far-right parties across the bloc. 

Pro-Russian vote ‘dangerous’

Asked earlier in the day whether he was concerned at Europe’s political direction, Zelenskyy warned against a pro-Russian shift. 

“Of course, it is important to me that people do not simply vote for pro-Russian, populist slogans. I think that’s dangerous – not for Ukraine (…) but for their countries,” he told reporters in Berlin, speaking alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. 

Scholz added that “the vast majority of citizens support parties that also agree that Ukraine must be supported”. 

In the Bundestag, Zelenskyy vowed to end the war but warned of the dangers of accepting a peace arrangement on Russian terms.

“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin himself will destroy any hope of reaching an agreement with him. He is used to subjugating,” he told lawmakers in the presence of Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. 

“Are we going to allow Russia to continue its march through Europe, with contempt for life and the nation? No, it is our common interest that Putin loses.”  

[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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