Young Left Voters: No Heart for Selenskyj

Heidi hype, Jan van Aken's beautiful smile , a consistent social media strategy, a clear anti-fascist stance - there are many possible explanations for the surprising success of the Left Party, and there is probably some truth in all of them. The party, which was still considered a political bankruptcy case six months ago, scored particularly well with young people in the federal election: 27 percent of voters up to the age of 24 voted for the Left Party, according to post-election surveys ; this makes it the most successful party in this age group.

What is irritating is that young voters are apparently not bothered by the Left Party's stance on the Ukraine issue. The Left Party rejects arms deliveries to Ukraine and instead calls for, precisely, "diplomatic initiatives" to end the war. The fear of a "sell-out of the country to Western corporations" is apparently more important to the Left Party than the danger that Ukraine will simply cease to exist. The party has managed to present itself as a peace party - without the unpleasant aftertaste of being close to Putin, as is the case with the BSW.

Quite a few of the new young Left Party voters are likely to be among those who, three years ago, wrapped themselves in yellow and blue flags, hung the slogan “Stand with Ukraine” on the balcony railing of their shared apartment and gave Ukraine’s President Zelenskyj a heart on social media.

This shows the real danger of social media infantilizing politics, because a three-year war is apparently too long for the digital attention span. Trump's change of sides to Putin , the dramatically changed geopolitical situation - all of this is too complex to be captured in the simple categories of "giving hearts" and "thumbs down."

The fact that the Left Party is entering the new Bundestag as a parliamentary group is good for parliamentary democracy and plurality. But the indifference of the new hip Left Party voters towards the fate of Ukraine is frightening.