FDP leader Christian Lindner is launching his own podcast and wants to present his view of contemporary issues. In the first episode, which will be published on Thursday, he argues that Western values must be backed by economic success so that a plan by Russian President Vladimir Putin does not work. “Putin’s bet is that even our democratic societies will not be able to endure the loss of prosperity in the long run that is associated with more expensive energy imports,” said Lindner.
Putin said: “The West is weak.” Populists could pick that up. Lindner, who is Federal Minister of Finance, says: “So the task is: We must also underpin our values through economic success, so that we can achieve exactly that: keep societies together, offer opportunities, offer security.” The quotes from the “CL” podcast were sent to the German Press Agency in advance.
Lindner’s first guest is the publicist, moderator and lawyer Michel Friedman. Topics are how society deals with uncertainties, the relationship between prosperity and freedom and liberal democracy in the global competition of systems. “We are now beginning to understand that China is not just a trading partner, but also a systemic rival and also a competitor in the world, a competitor striving for dominance, and we are adjusting to that and the German economy is adjusting to that,” says Lindner. The changes are “a challenge for the prosperity of a society, at least in the conversion phase”.
