Gysi is serious about the refinery (nd-aktuell.de)

Is that serious? “Yes,” says Brandenburg member of the state parliament Andreas Büttner (left). Because that’s the name of the Potsdam band: Seriously. She will play live on Saturday on the Liberation Square in Schwedt, Uckermark, as the opening act for three left-wing politicians who will be speaking here in a moment: state chairman Sebastian Walter, federal chairman Martin Schirdewan and member of the Bundestag Gregor Gysi.

They are concerned with saving the local PCK refinery, which they believe should not be cut off from Russian oil from the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline or at least should be supplied with Kazakh oil as long as there is no alternative, as Sebastian Walter says .

Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has been here twice, once standing on a table on the PCK company premises and speaking to the workforce and the second time on the Liberation Square from a stage down to the city’s residents. Habeck tried to calm people’s fears that with an embargo on Russian oil from the pipeline from January 2023, which Germany imposed on itself, the PCK refinery could go down the drain and with it the whole city.

But that’s exactly what could happen, believes the city councilor Reiner Prodöhl (left). “If the PCK dies, it would be a major blow to the region. It’s not just the 1,200 employees,” says the 69-year-old. There are more jobs attached to the company. Purchasing power would fall. Even more customers would go to Poland for their errands, where it’s cheaper. Shops on this side of the border would have to cut back on staff or close completely.

The city, which grew and flourished in the GDR with the Petrol-Chemical Combine (PCK for short), already has enough difficulties. Young people go off to study and never come back, Prodöhl regrets. His son has been away for 25 years and only comes from Düsseldorf to visit. The problem also affects the party organization. Many of the 86 comrades in Schwedt are so old that they can no longer participate. The grass-roots organization gets about 20 active people up and running, including only two young people.

Around 1.30pm on Saturday it starts to rain and according to the weather forecast it will not stop until 5pm. The comrades who set up stands and a giant banner on Liberation Square are getting nervous. Does the rally planned from 3 p.m. literally fall through? But this fear turns out to be unfounded. Shortly before 3 p.m., the square fills up within a minute or two. Hundreds, maybe even almost 1000 people flock with umbrellas and rain jackets or take shelter at the covered entrances of the shops all around. “We can still do it,” beams state chairman Walter. After the quarrels within the party and the heavy electoral defeats of the past few years, doubts had to arise as to whether Die Linke could still mobilize the masses. But one of Walter’s assumptions seems to be correct: if the socialists stop looking at themselves and turn to the problems of the population, then they will be heard and re-elected. In the latest forecast by the opinion research institute Infratest dimap, Die Linke in Brandenburg improved from seven to nine percent. On a national scale, the party’s polls now promise at least five percent again and not just four.

“This torch has been burning for over 60 years now,” says Walter of a Schwedt landmark, the tower with the flame on the PCK premises, which can be seen above the treetops as you come into town by train from Berlin. The torch stands for well-paid jobs and the opportunity to use petrol from the refinery to drive to work, visit relatives and friends, says Walter. These certainties no longer exist. Walter is therefore demanding one billion euros for structural change, twice as much as previously promised. Because it’s clear that fossil fuels won’t last forever. The war in Ukraine is only hastening the already inevitable change. But Schwedt should not get under the wheels. Federal Economics Minister Habeck and Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) should “open their pockets,” Walter demands. In the state of Brandenburg there is still a billion euros from the Corona rescue fund, which the left-wing faction believes could also be used elsewhere, which the Ministry of Finance denies.

According to the schedule, Gregor Gysi is to appear after Sebastian Walter. But he got stuck in traffic and was late. So the speech by Party Chairman Schirdewan is preferred. Schirdewan knows who the listeners are waiting for and asks them to be patient. When Gysi finally appears, applause breaks out. But there was also applause for Schirdewan when he declared: “People in this country are groaning under the price trend.” Groceries have become 17 percent more expensive. The gas price cap was only promised under pressure from the street. “Now the federal government must finally deliver.” When Schirdewan warns against leaving the social protest to “right-wing pied pipers” that there is no need for Pegida on energy prices, one or two listeners boo and three or four leave the square.

The stewards had already noticed that at least one neo-Nazi was there, because no normal person wears clothes with the inscription “Last Legion Valhalla”. But there are plenty of stewards in place to keep an eye on this man, making sure no one unfurls a banner with a racist slogan or does anything of the sort. The German Communist Party, on the other hand, is allowed to wave their flags. They are red like those of the Left Party. Lutz Jonas also allow the folders. He came with a handcart, which the trained GDR citizens know under the joking name Klaufix. On it he made a grave with a wooden cross, a Chilean flag, a straw hat and ivy, from which a stinky finger rises. The message of this humorous installation: the deceased head of state and party leader Erich Honecker signals to East Germans from his final resting place: »You wanted it that way. Now you have the salad.”

But when Gysi enters the stage, no one has eyes for it anymore. The eyes are directed to him. “NATO and the EU have done just about everything wrong in Ukraine that could be done wrong,” Gysis begins his remarks. “But that doesn’t justify aggressive war,” he clarifies. “I have nothing against sanctions against the Russian leadership, nothing against sanctions against the Russian military.” But punitive measures should not be aimed at the Russian population, especially since they are now cautiously protesting against partial mobilization. Asylum must be granted to deserters. Appropriately for the Day of German Unity on October 3, Gysi formulates: »If the refinery were in the West, it would have been saved long ago.«

Now Gysi has to go to the next appointment, gets off the stage, quickly signs a book held out to him and he’s already out of sight. The band Ernstgemeint plays again and thanks everyone who is holding out despite the rain. But that’s not many. The place is emptying almost as fast as it had filled just over an hour earlier.