For Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, the presentation of the new party of former CSV President Frank Engel was “nice and charming” but lacked concrete policy proposals. Hennicot-Schoepges also wondered what a new party could bring to the table that others do not already provide. She questioned whether it is the right choice to found a new party in reaction to conflicts with the previous one. Both the Democratic Party (DP) and the CSV must ask themselves what they did wrong or what they could have done better, according to Hennicot-Schoepges.
As for her own party, the CSV, the former party president stressed that the controversy surrounding Frank Engel “should have been resolved differently”. Specifically, Hennicot-Schoepges thinks that the conflict should not have taken place in public and should instead have been resolved in private. Nevertheless, Hennicot-Schoepges thinks that with its 34 mayors and several “competent people” in its ranks, the CSV remains strong. However, the former party president thinks that the country’s biggest opposition party should focus more on direct contact with voters. In this context, Hennicot-Schoepges criticised the increased focus on social media, specifically Facebook, and labelled new media in general as “a great danger”.
Commenting on the current crisis between Ukraine and Russia, the former minister and MEP stated that it is “terrible” and “a failure of everything that we have built since the end of the Second World War”. After the war, the goal was to build a world in which all humans could live in peace and in which borders would not lead to war, Hennico-Schoepges explained. The former politician doubts that sanctions will be effective and criticised that the EU has repeatedly failed to speak with one voice. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs is “not a real Minister of Foreign Affairs”, according to Hennico-Schoepges, who thinks that there is room for improvement in this area.
It is a “very dangerous situation”, the former minister acknowledged, adding that one must hope that it does not end in “a terrible war”. However, Hennico-Schoepges concluded, the confrontation with Vladimir Putin will remain, no matter what.
