FDP Three Kings’ Meeting: Lindner against the “desire for downfall”
Published: Saturday, Jan 6th 2024, 15:50
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The mood at the traditional Epiphany meeting of the Liberals is a little different this year, as FDP leader Christian Lindner realizes on his way to the Stuttgart Opera House in the morning. Protest groups have set up all over the palace gardens, animal rights activists have come, left-wing critics of globalization, anti-war activists and angry farmers with their tractors. Lindner, who says he has a fever, walks past smiling - and only stops briefly for an autograph hunter.
The party leader will also feel the protest in the opera hall. Activists have mingled with the audience and are interrupting the Federal Minister of Finance's speech. They loudly demand the introduction of the climate money. Lindner responds with a bite: this is the first time that left-wing autonomists have been in favor of the FDP's election program.
For more than 140 years, the Liberals have started the new year politically in the southwest on January 6. The party is currently in a polling slump and many supporters are unhappy with the traffic light system. Members recently voted very narrowly for the party to remain in the federal government. So the meeting at the opera is just the right time to recharge their batteries. The content:
Operation Optimism - Linder makes it clear right at the beginning of his speech that times are not easy. He tries to spread confidence in the opera. The federal government is not flawless, but makes more right decisions than wrong ones. "Epochal upheavals" were pushing the mood in the country to a low point. They led to a real "desire for decline". There is talk of deindustrialization, a crash and decline, he says. "I am open: I can hardly bear it anymore." A society that does not believe in its own future is gambling away the future, according to the party leader. "There is a third way between praying for a better future and painting a bleak picture - and that is to face up to the realities and do something."
Farmers' protest - Lindner calls on farmers to protest peacefully. "Don't allow yourself to be infiltrated and instrumentalized. You have lost your way, please turn back," he says. Damage to property and the announced blockades are disproportionate. "Breach of the peace, coercion, damage to property - these are cases for the public prosecutor." Society has a responsibility to agriculture, but agriculture also has a responsibility to society. Lindner defended the subsidy cuts in the agricultural sector. "An industry that is so highly subsidized at European and national level will not be able to resist every consolidation contribution."
Support for Ukraine - The FDP leader is calling for more support from European partners for Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. Germany is taking its responsibility seriously. "50 percent of all European support for Ukraine is provided by German taxpayers." However, the threat from Russia exists for Europe as a whole. "So others must also share the burden."
Compulsory military service - Lindner strictly rejects a return to compulsory military service. "In the 21st century, national and alliance defense no longer consists of re-establishing district conscription offices," he said. Rather, it consists of "finding highly qualified soldiers for a technology army". In times of a shortage of skilled workers, a generation would be deterred from learning and practising a qualified profession in order to spend a few months in the Bundeswehr "as a semi-skilled worker". Compulsory military service was suspended in July 2011. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is currently having models of compulsory service examined due to the changed security situation.
Debt brake - The Federal Minister of Finance also reiterates his opposition to a softening of the debt brake. There are "two strong allies" for this - economic reason and the Basic Law. Interest rates on loans are now higher than growth. "So we are keeping the debt brake in place not out of stupidity, but to maintain credibility on the capital markets, so that Germany can remain an anchor of stability in Europe, so that we can build up new safety buffers and so that this country is not strangled by interest and repayments at some point." According to Lindner, if there is a new financing requirement, it should first be seen whether it can be covered in the regular budget through reallocations. The exception to the debt brake is the last resort. "This finance minister will not support any decision that brings new constitutional risks."
Floods - Politicians from the SPD and the Greens had brought up the idea of once again suspending the debt brake in connection with the current flooding in parts of Germany. The FDP rejects this. However, Lindner assured those affected of solidarity on Saturday. They could count on solidarity. We don't want to make the state responsible for everything, and it can't be responsible for everything either, said Lindner. "But anyone who finds themselves in need through no fault of their own can rely on the solidarity of society."
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