On May 9, Victory Day in Russia in commemoration of the end of World War II, former Foreign Minister Gerhard Schröder attended the event at the Russian embassy in Berlin. The visit caused outrage in the German political class and society. The 79-year-old Social Democrat, the architect of the first Nord Stream gas pipeline, makes no secret of his pro-Russian inclination towards the war in Ukraine, and is considered the main Putin-Versteher (Putin connoisseur) in Germany.

This neologism with a pejorative connotation does not imply approval of the ongoing war violence, but rather support for the idea that “Putin’s position must be understood.” In fact, the majority of the Putin-Versteher (in the plural it is also said like this) define themselves as pacifists, and demand a ceasefire and immediate peace negotiations.

The case of Schröder, who has been dispossessed of his office and privileges as former chancellor although the SPD allows him to remain a member of the party, is particular, and is closely linked to his person and his former position. But, although, as the polls indicate, the bulk of the citizenry agrees with the support for Kyiv of the government of social democrats, greens and liberals of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, there is a peripheral Putin-Versteher magma in society.

The miscellany is made up of sympathizers of the leftist Die Linke party, which, due to its origins in the former communist GDR, retains an emotional bond with Russia; followers of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which, like other European parties with a similar ideology, has maintained links with Moscow for years; and conspiracy theorists who believe that the war is part of a plot by the powerful, because they can no longer use the coronavirus to dominate the population. This transversal collective is concentrated above all in the eastern Länder, where Die Linke and AfD have their vote nurseries. It is also where the pro-Russian propaganda is best, through alternative media and influencers.

A reflection of the amalgamation: Alexander Gauland and Tino Chrupalla, honorary president and co-president of the AfD, attended the event at the Russian embassy; Klaus Ernst, Member of Parliament for Die Linke; and Egon Krenz, former General Secretary of the former Communist Party of the GDR. All of them refuse to send weapons to Kyiv.

Instead, most Germans agree. In an April poll by the public channel ZDF, 73% declared themselves in favor of military support for Ukraine (of that total, 45% would maintain it and 28% would increase it), and only 22% advocated reducing it. The tables are reversed when looking at the supporters of each party: those of Die Linke and AfD oppose the handing over of weapons with 72% and 56%, respectively.

Both parties suffer from internal divisions over the Russian question and it was difficult for them to reach an official position, which they resolved with condemnations of the invasion, calls for peace and rejection of the shipment of arms. The extreme right is the most explicit in its arguments: no to Ukraine’s entry into the EU and NATO, no to economic sanctions against Russia, and yes to reactivating the Nord Stream. Die Linke argues that the two countries must guarantee that they will not use nuclear weapons, putting them on the same level and ignoring that Ukraine, after becoming independent in 1991, gave up the Soviet nuclear arsenal that was on its territory. Of the 736 Bundestag deputies, the AfD has 78 and Die Linke 39.

The pro-Russian amalgam has staged small demonstrations in eastern towns, but managed to gather ten thousand people in Berlin on February 25, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the invasion. To the discomfort of Die Linke, one of the two conveners of the march was Sahra Wagenknecht, a party politician although now she no longer has any positions, along with the historic feminist Alice Schwarzer. “We ask the German chancellor to stop the escalation of arms shipments; each day lost costs a thousand more lives and brings us closer to a third world war”, said the organizers, who promote a Manifesto for peace on change.org signed until yesterday by 797,500 people.

The demonstration, in which banners against the United States and NATO abounded, was harshly criticized by the government. The finance minister, the green Robert Habeck, refuted the pacifism put forward, arguing that “of course, anyone in their right mind wants peace”, but that “what Wagenknecht and the people who follow her sell as peace is to force Europe to accept what an imperialist dictator wants to impose; it would be an invitation to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to invade more countries”. Finance Minister Christian Lindner, a liberal, said that “anyone who is not on the Ukrainian side is on the wrong side of history.”