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- "Cumulative damage from gas pipeline undermining runs into the billions in double digits"
"Cumulative damage from gas pipeline undermining runs into the billions in double digits"
The cumulative damage from the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream-2 pipelines is already estimated at billions of euros in double digits. Rainer Rothfuss, a Bundestag deputy from the Alternative for Germany (AdG), told Izvestia. The FRG economy suffers, among other things, from the fact that the German government does not allow gas supplies from Russia through the surviving branch of Nord Stream-2. The politician notes that the EU sanctions are hurting Germany more than Russia. The AdG expects the normalization of relations between Germany and Russia after Donald Trump returns to the White House. According to Rainer Rothfuss, Alice Weidel, the AdG candidate for German chancellor, has made it clear that she intends to meet with Vladimir Putin to discuss ways to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. On the prospects of its peaceful resolution in 2025 and the possibility of cooperation between the FRG and BRICS - in an exclusive interview with Rainer Rothfuss "Izvestia".
"The EU sanctions regime against Russia has harmed Germany first of all"
- In February, parliamentary elections will be held in Germany. What result does Alternative for Germany expect?
- Now there is a tendency to further strengthen the AdG. Perhaps we will overcome the 20% mark if there are no more information attacks with false claims, such as those that took place in early 2024 with the participation of Correctiv and 1.3 thousand organizations, which put almost 3 million people on the streets of Germany against the AdG (the protests took place after Correctiv published an article about a secret meeting of the far-right with the participation of high-ranking members of the AdG, which allegedly discussed a plan for the mass deportation of millions of migrants. - Izvestia). The AdG for the first time nominated its candidate for Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Alice Weidel, which significantly increased our visibility [in the information field].
It is now crucial that we are not hidden from the media on the issue of war or peace in Europe. This is crucial for the elections. We are already seeing an artificially staged fight between "Taurus-Chancellor" [CDU head] Friedrich Merz, whom many Germans fear (earlier he promised to transfer long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. - "Izvestia"), and Olaf Scholz, who has suddenly become "Chancellor of the World." In doing so, Scholz has allowed war in Ukraine against Russia.
The real party of peace is undoubtedly the AdG. For 10 years now we have been demanding the normalization of relations with Russia and the lifting of all sanctions, as well as the creation of a security architecture that takes equal account of interests in the West and East.
- In your estimation, how much could Germany have lost due to EU sanctions against Russia since 2022?
- Germany's economy has suffered not only from the US and EU sanctions against Russia, which have destroyed numerous investments and trade ties, but also from our "friends" undermining the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. The losses from the admission of 1.2 million Syrians, overwhelmingly receiving social assistance, massive arms shipments and financial aid to Ukraine in the big picture are in the billions in double digits. As a result, the German economy will face serious obstacles in an increasingly competitive global environment and will be left behind in the medium term.
- Last year, it became known that the "Alternative for Germany" as part of its election program calls for Germany's withdrawal from the European Union. Are we talking about holding a referendum on leaving the EU? And if so, does your party really intend to initiate it?
- "Alternative for Germany" has already pointed out that the EU system serves more to control and contain the FRG than to give fair consideration to our legitimate interests. The EU's attack on our key industry over the ban on internal combustion engines (in 2023, EU countries approved a law that will require all new cars to have zeroCO2 emissions from 2035, effectively implying a ban on diesel and gasoline engines. - "Izvestia") has been a serious blow to our national economy. The EU sanctions regime against Russia has harmed Germany first and foremost. That is why we are in favor of greater autonomy and sovereignty for the Federal Republic of Germany.
Of course, a new form of cooperation oriented towards the common interests of European states is necessary to change this system. In the case of the formation of an AdG government, we, as staunch supporters of direct democracy (along with the timely preparation of alternative forms of cooperation, possibly including the BRICS), would give citizens the opportunity to make a final decision on leaving the EU through a referendum. Of course, before doing so, they would have to receive balanced information about the advantages and disadvantages of both paths. Right now this is happening exclusively on one pro-EU side.
- Last November you were in Sochi, where you participated in a symposium between the BRICS countries and Europe. Why is BRICS important for the EU and what could cooperation with this association bring to Germany?
- For Germany and the EU as a whole, BRICS could be the key to boosting global cooperation on an equal footing. However, the US sees Europe's openness to BRICS as a threat to its global hegemony, for which Europe must remain within America's direct sphere of influence. But for Germany, as a developed country, cooperation with the BRICS would provide very significant opportunities to secure access to raw materials as well as to markets around the world.
"Weidel made achieving peace in Ukraine a key point"
- Is it possible for an AdG delegation to come to Russia in 2025?
- In a recent interview with ZDF, our candidate for Chancellor Alice Weidel made it clear that she would go to Washington and Moscow to contribute to ending the war in Ukraine. Ms. Weidel would not have been able to refuse an invitation from the Russian government, even though the German media is currently trying to portray our party as a "traitor to the fatherland."
Alice Weidel, co-chair of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AdG) party
Not a single opportunity is missed to undermine our party's reputation and delegitimize it as a democratic opposition force. And this is only because we prioritize the interests of Germany over those of Brussels and Washington. For this reason, there are even attempts (and this is widely supported in the media) to ban the AdG completely, despite the fact that its program is in line with constitutional guidelines. This would be the end of democracy in Germany.
- Are there prerequisites for the normalization of political relations between Russia and Germany in 2025?
- All of us in the AdH hope that the US government under Donald Trump will finally create more freedom to normalize mutually beneficial relations with Russia. However, we are not naive about the conflicting geopolitical interests of the still powerful US in Europe and Eurasia, which are sometimes diametrically opposed to ours. We as the AdG do not have to change our position on Russia. All other reputable parties in Germany will do so as soon as the conflict in Ukraine is over.
- What will happen to Germany's military aid to Ukraine after Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president? Will the FRG increase it or, on the contrary, decrease it?
- Donald Trump will hopefully make realistic proposals to end the conflict, which his predecessor did not want to avoid because of the geopolitical interests of globalist forces and NATO. Hopefully, in 2025, Germany will only help finance the rebuilding of the rest of Ukraine rather than continue to supply it with weapons. But I fear that Germany could be used by Western globalist forces to continue supporting Ukraine against Russia under new alliances such as the "Northern Group" (This format of defense cooperation between European NATO countries and Ukraine came into being in November 2024. - Izvestia) to oppose the US withdrawal from the conflict.
AFU soldiers
- Does Alternative for Germany intend to launch a peace initiative to resolve the conflict in Ukraine?
- Alice Weidel has made achieving peace in Ukraine one of the key points of her election campaign. Until the federal elections on February 23, we will try to position ourselves as the parliamentary voice of the 68% of Germans who, in an August 2024 INSA poll, demanded that politicians make greater diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine.
I always say that if our candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, could meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, it would be a powerful signal that would break the bellicose phalanx of Germany's political parties. Voters in the FRG would be euphoric, and they would have renewed hope that a breakthrough to peace and good cooperation across Europe could be achieved soon.
"The ruling political-media cartels succeed in hiding the real culprits behind the undermining of the Nord Streams"
- Does Alternative for Germany intend to set up a commission of inquiry in the Bundestag to investigate the undermining of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines?
- We have already proposed the creation of such a commission in the Bundestag. But the other parties will prevent this until we ourselves or together with partners who are seriously interested in the investigation get at least 25 percent of the mandates in the Bundestag. Thus, investigative committees can be set up even against the will of the "cartel" parties.
- How much damage has the disruption of the Nord Streams caused to Germany?
- The cumulative damage caused by the disruption of the three strings of gas pipelines and the failure to use the only undamaged pipe, for which the federal government is responsible, is already running into billions of euros in double digits. Industrial production and private consumers are suffering. The consequential damage that could be caused by the withdrawal of industrial companies and the dismantling of tens of thousands of kilometers of gas networks will be unforeseeably high if political change is not achieved in Germany soon and the authorities do not finally embark on a course that is in the interests of their own citizens and companies.
- Will the AdG continue to raise the issue of the need to find those responsible for undermining the gas pipelines?
- You can be sure that the AdG will never stop trying to identify the true perpetrators of the Nord Stream bombings and demand appropriate compensation. As a relatively politically weak country in the West, we will probably never be able to get justice. But if the public finds out who betrayed our interests in such a shameful way, the citizens of our country will at least realize that in the future we Germans should be partners of the whole world and not just vassals of Brussels and Washington.
- Is it possible that individual members of the former ruling coalition will be prosecuted for the pipeline attack?
- It all depends on political developments and how quickly Germans will favor the AdG as a representative of their interests in government. Right now, the globalist forces in Germany and the EU are still very effective in providing an "enemy image" in the person of the AdG so that Germans have a completely unfounded fear of us. As long as the ruling political-media cartels manage to hide the real culprits behind the undermining of Nord Streams, no bailiffs will follow a trail that would harm their own ruling elite.
On September 26, 2023, the first anniversary of the sabotage, I filed a criminal complaint against German Economy Minister Robert Habeck. His Green Party colleague Viola von Kramon-Taubadel declared on October 16, 2022, in front of the cameras at the federal party congress that Robert Habeck had "done away" with the pipelines. However, the attorney general in Karlsruhe did not investigate because the initial suspicions were not reasonable. In light of the role of the United States under Joe Biden, which supported the "traffic light coalition" as its loyal vassals, it is unfortunate to state: there is no justice in the world of international relations, in fact there is only the right of the strong.
