German Business Leader Confident CDU Hopeful Laschet Wants Stronger Ties With Russia

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published June 03, 2021 | 06:55 PM

Armin Laschet, the candidate from the conservative CDU/CSU alliance for the German chancellorship in the upcoming elections, has a clear position regarding Russia and wants a close relationship with Moscow, Klaus Mangold, the chairman of Mangold Consulting GmbH, has said in an interview with Sputnik

ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2021) Armin Laschet, the candidate from the conservative CDU/CSU alliance for the German chancellorship in the upcoming elections, has a clear position regarding Russia and wants a close relationship with Moscow, Klaus Mangold, the chairman of Mangold Consulting GmbH, has said in an interview with Sputnik.

In late April, the board of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) picked Laschet as its candidate during the elections to the German Bundestag on September 26. In May, Laschet declared his support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

"I believe that Mr. Laschet has a very clear view about Russia. He is a convinced European and a convinced European is looking for a close relationship with Russia as well because Europe without Russia makes no sense at all. So, I'm sure that Mr. Laschet will be a strong supporter of intensifying Russian-European relations," Mangold, also a former Chairman of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, said on the sidelines of the St.

Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The businessman also touched upon the controversial promise by the German Greens, who are poised to make significant gains in the upcoming election, according to polls, to scrap the project if elected.

"I believe that with a Green government, if they are taking part in a government, I believe this is something that is still speculation, but I believe as well that the Green party will have to face realities, and realities will show us that without Russia in the overall European framework, we have not the power to be seen on the same level as China, as the United States. So I'm confident that the Greens, if they will be a member of the government, that they will come to a certain normality," Mangold explained.

The Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is an official media partner of the country's major economic forum.