For German politician Heinz Bierbaum, the resolution of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which completed six months this week, will only take place through dialogue – and with more prominence on the part of the European Union. “Today everyone is fueling the war with weapons, especially the US. We should focus on a more political solution,” he says.
Bierbaum was in Brazil for meetings with former president Lula (PT) and representatives of the PSOL and MST. The German presides over the European Left Party, a coalition of acronyms from the continent of which A Esquerda, his legend in Germany, is part and to which the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation is linked, of which he will assume leadership. The group promotes international cooperation policy formation initiatives.
The meeting with Lula took place on Tuesday (24) and was attended by Gleisi Hoffman, president of the PT, and Celso Amorim, former chancellor and one of the PT’s main advisers for the external area.
Bierbaum says that the conversation dealt mainly with the Brazilian elections, shrouded in President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) attacks on the voting system. “We hope that the election will be clean, despite the apprehension”, he says. But he and Lula also discussed the War in Ukraine and the agreement between the European Union and Mercosur, which has been paralyzed for months.
The PT does not mention the conflict in Eastern Europe in his government plan, but he already spoke about it to Time magazine in May, criticizing the stance of Ukrainian Volodymir Zelensky. This week, in a press conference with the international press, he said that if elected, he intends to make Brazil a moderator in the peace negotiations — he and Amorim had already been defending the thesis by urging the role of BRICS.
Bierbaum is also in favor of a solution based on dialogue and criticizes in particular the lack of protagonism of the European Union, which according to him behaves as a mere ally of the USA, not with the independence and autonomy that the moment calls for. “The UN and the Pope have already said that they would be willing to mediate in the conflict, but so far there has been no mediation. Europe should take on this role.”
This implies, in his view, more independence from NATO, the western military alliance – Ukraine’s rapprochement with the group worsened relations with Russia and played a central role in the beginning of the conflict.
Bierbaum says that the coalition he leads has been discussing the creation of a new collective security system. “It would mean strategic autonomy for Europe.” The continent has been deeply affected by the war, with rising fuel and food prices and an influx of refugees.
The German situation is particularly delicate, as the country depends on gas from Russia – 40% of the country’s energy needs were met by Moscow until last year.
The country has been racing against time to find other sources. Prime Minister Olaf Scholz said that the first terminals of one of these alternatives, liquefied natural gas, could start operations in the first months of next year. But Bierbaum does not share that optimism. “It won’t be now, and it won’t be next year.”
Aside from inflation, the ecological issue is one of his party’s most pressing concerns today. “There will be no social justice without climate justice and vice versa. There are hungry people and of course this is the first thing we need to deal with. But at the same time we need to convince the population that these issues have an impact on living conditions. from them.”
The theme supports the argument that the politician invokes when justifying opposition to the current version of the EU-Mercosur agreement. The European bloc has been talking since last year about sending a proposal for a complementary letter to the agreement with demands for the environmental area, a reaction to the negative repercussions of Bolsonaro’s environmental policy.
Lula disagrees with the agreement, but for other reasons — in interviews, he said that a clause would prevent Brazil from re-industrializing. Faced with the impasse, Bierbaum quotes a phrase by Amorim at the meeting. “He said, ‘Hurry is the enemy of a good deal’. I agree.”
