logo
'He just can't hack it' - AfD leader Chrupalla attacks Merz on TV

'He just can't hack it' - AfD leader Chrupalla attacks Merz on TV

Euronews4 days ago
In the recent editon of the "summer interview" series of German public broadcaster ZDF, filmed in Görlitz, the parliamentary constituency of the AfD co-chairman, Tino Chrupalla sharply criticised Friedrich Merz's government policy. "You can see in his government work: he just can't manage it," said Chrupalla on the Federal Chancellor's Middle East policy, despite the AfD's support of halting the export of weapons to war and crisis zones. And, as ZDF journalist Wulf Schmiese pointed out several times, the fact that the AfD was fully supportive of the Chancellor's specific decision to restrict arms deliveries to Israel.
On the war in Ukraine, Tino Chrupalla said on ZDF that Chancellor Merz should have made direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Because he had not done so, Friedrich Merz was "at the cat's table" in the talks organised by US President Donald Trump.
'Russia not an enemy'
Chrupalla said that he did not see Russia as an enemy. "It is precisely this war rhetoric that we must put an end to," explained the AfD politician, who confirmed that he himself had done civilian service in place of serving in the armed forces for his, then still mandatory, time of national service.
When asked about his party's ability to form a coalition, the East German Chrupalla was confident: "In my constituency, we are just short of 50 per cent. (...) Whether we need a coalition partner at all remains to be seen", he said, adding that his party's "Project 40" would play an important role in any elections in Saxony. The next ones for the state assembly are scheduled for 2029
The interview with Tino Chrupalla was broadcast on Sunday evening, but had been pre-recorded after the interview with the co-chair of the parliamentary group, Alice Weidel, was massively disrupted by activists.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump-Putin Alaska summit: What we know about the upcoming meeting
Trump-Putin Alaska summit: What we know about the upcoming meeting

Euronews

time2 hours ago

  • Euronews

Trump-Putin Alaska summit: What we know about the upcoming meeting

ADVERTISEMENT The Kremlin revealed details about the much-anticipated meeting in Alaska between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin set to take place on Friday. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday the talks will take place at the US Air Force's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage and that the summit programme has been finalised. The meeting will start with a one-on-one conversation between the leaders in the presence of interpreters at 9:30 pm CEST. A working breakfast is scheduled right after, and its duration and timing depend on how the initial conversation goes. After the working breakfast, the talks will continue in a broader format with the delegations. The Russian delegation will include Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, and Russian Direct Investment Fund head Kirill Dmitriev. The US delegation's lineup has not been announced. Notably, the Moscow delegation does not include Putin's presidential aide, Vladimir Medinsky, who has been leading the Russian team at the direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. Medinsky also represented Moscow at the first attempt at talks in Istanbul in March 2022. His absence broadly demonstrates the Kremlin's stance on the Istanbul talks with Ukraine and a lack of willingness for a direct dialogue with Kyiv. Low expectations and high stakes Putin's aide Ushakov said the central topic of the Alaska summit is 'settlement' of Russia's war in Ukraine, though economic cooperation and global security will also be discussed. Ushakov said the Kremlin views it as symbolic that the meeting will take place "near the graves of Soviet pilots in Alaska." Ukraine's centre for countering disinformation stated that, according to the defence forces centre, Putin might be preparing certain pseudo-historical materials for a meeting with Trump. These might include geographical maps intended to convince the US president that Ukraine is supposedly an 'artificial state,' formed at the expense of territories of other countries. Putin has repeatedly used this false argument to justify his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Commenting on the upcoming Alaska meeting, Trump has somehow downplayed its importance and consequences, describing it as 'setting the table for the second meeting," purportedly between Zelenskyy and Putin. 'We are going to have the second meeting if the first one goes well,' Trump said, adding that he would prefer the second meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy to take place 'almost immediately'. Trump also said that Russia will face severe consequences if the Friday meeting between Trump and Putin doesn't go well in terms of Moscow's willingness to end its war against Ukraine. Asked if he believed he could convince Putin to stop targeting civilians in Ukraine, Trump replied: "I guess the answer to that is no, because I've had this conversation (with Putin)." Ukraine's president said he hopes the central topic at the upcoming meeting in Alaska will be an immediate ceasefire. 'The US president has repeatedly spoken about this. He suggested to me that after the meeting in Alaska, we would be in contact and discuss all the results, if any, and determine our next steps," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. After the meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Wednesday, Zelenskyy went to London Thursday for a brief sitdown with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Ukraine's president said the discussion focused on possible security guarantees for Kyiv, 'if the United States succeeds in pressing Russia to stop the killings and engage in genuine, substantive diplomacy.'

At least eight killed in latest Russian attacks on Ukraine
At least eight killed in latest Russian attacks on Ukraine

Euronews

time3 hours ago

  • Euronews

At least eight killed in latest Russian attacks on Ukraine

At least eight people were killed and 18 were injured after Russian missile and drone attacks struck Ukraine overnight on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said. Forty-five Shahed-type drones were launched as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles overnight, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Twenty-four of the drones were reportedly downed, while strikes were recorded at 12 locations. Four people were killed and six were injured after strikes on residential areas and infrastructure in Kherson, according to its regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Three others were killed in Donetsk and one in Kharkiv with several injured, local officials said. At least seven people were also injured after heavy shelling in the Sumy region, including a 7-year-old child, Ukrainian media reported. Across the border in the Russian city of Volgograd, Kyiv officials say Ukrainian drones struck a Lukoil refinery overnight into Thursday, causing severe fires. The refinery is owned by Russian oil giant Lukoil. The Ukrainian military said it had targeted the site because it supplies fuel to Russian forces. Volgograd regional governor Andrey Bocharov said there were no casualties. Russia's defence ministry said on Thursday that it had destroyed or intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones overnight, including nine over Volgograd. Euronews could not independently verify these claims.

Lithuania will teach schoolchildren how to build drones
Lithuania will teach schoolchildren how to build drones

Euronews

time4 hours ago

  • Euronews

Lithuania will teach schoolchildren how to build drones

When Lithuanian children head back to school in September, they will be studying more than math and history – they'll be learning how to build and use drones. The country's defence ministry is launching a drone control and construction skills project that includes training the general public and children from grades 3 to 12 how to build and operate drones. Nine training centres will be up and running by 2028, but the first three centres will be ready by September, the department said in a statement this week. '[Drones] are now an integral part not only of science and industry, but also of everyday life,' Valdas Jankauskas, director of the Lithuanian Non-Formal Education Agency (LINEŠA), said in a statement. The project will give younger generations 'the opportunity to get to know this field from an early age,' which the ministry hopes will eventually be valuable for 'both future engineers and for every civically active person'. The news comes as the Baltic country reconsiders its border defences. Last month, an unmanned Russian drone carrying explosives flew into Lithuania from Belarus before crashing near a military training base, prompting officials to seek additional NATO support amid what they said was an 'an alarming sign of the spillover of Russia's aggression'. Meanwhile on Thursday, Andrius Kubilius, Lithuania's former prime minister and the European Union's Commissioner for Defence and Space, told local media that the country's preparedness to respond to a drone strike is 'not at the level we should have'.t'. He added that Lithuania needs to be 'prepared to defend ourselves against … hundreds of thousands of drones'. Other Baltic countries have drone education programmes Lithuania's goal is to have more than 22,000 people, including 7,000 children, by 2028 that have 'drone control skills,' like knowing how to pilot and build drones. Beginning around age 9, the youngest students will learn how to build drones through 'practical experiments and games,' the department said. The skills are furthered in lower secondary school for children ages 11 to 16, where they will start to pilot first-person drones indoors and build them. By high school, students will be designing and manufacturing 3D drone parts and participating in regional and national competitions, according to the plan. With the new programme, Lithuania is joining its neighbours in creating drone training initiatives for children. The Estonian government promised a drone education program by mid-2026 as part of its coalition agreement earlier this year. The deal offers few details about the courses, but it said all participating schools will get their own 'drone kits'. The program will be part of Estonia's national defence curriculum, which was put in place in 2023 to 'develop civic awareness and readiness to defend Estonia,' the government said. Meanwhile, Latvia hosted its first drone operator camp in July. It trained 32 young cadets in flight fundamentals and electronic warfare, local media reported. All three countries are also building a 'drone wall' on their eastern borders with Russia. The Estonian government said that includes building an 'initial drone detection' system on the border and in four major cities by early 2027.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store