Foreign policy
Concerning foreign policy, Die Linke calls for international disarmament, while ruling out any form of involvement of the Bundeswehr outside of Germany. The party calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany, as well as the replacement of NATO with a collective security system including Russia as a member country. They believe that German foreign policy should be strictly confined to the goals of civil diplomacy and cooperation, instead of confrontation, though they also believe that such demands are more of a vision, are not to be implemented as soon as possible, and should not be seen as inflexible preconditions for a federal, left-wing red–red–green coalition.
In their manifesto, the party says: "All support for NATO states which, like Erdoğan's Turkey, disregard international law, must be stopped immediately." Die Linke criticised Germany's defense plan with Saudi Arabia, which has been waging war in Yemen and has been accused of massive human rights violations. Die Linke supports further debt cancellations for developing countries and increases in development aid, in collaboration with the United Nations, World Trade Organization, World Bank, and diverse bilateral treaties among countries. The party supports reform of the United Nations as long as it is aimed at a fair balance between developed and developing countries. Die Linke would have all American military bases within Germany, and if possible in the European Union, enacted within a binding treaty, dissolved. Die Linke welcomes European integration, while opposing what it considers to be neoliberal policies in the European Union. The party strives for the democratisation of the EU institutions and a stronger role of the United Nations in international politics. Die Linke opposed both the war in Afghanistan and the Iraq War, as well as the Treaty of Lisbon.
The party has a mixed stance towards the Russo-Ukrainian War. Gregor Gysi has described Russia as state capitalist, and the party has called the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation and the Russian military intervention in Ukraine illegal; however, Gysi commented that older elements of the party have a strong penchant for Russia and the Soviet Union. The party declared in May 2014 that Ukraine should not receive any kind of support from Germany as long as there are fascists inside its government. Some members and former members of the party (like MP Andrej Hunko, who has since left the party and joined BSW) are strong supporters of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.
The party takes a friendly stance towards China; Sevim Dağdelen, former deputy leader of Die Linke in the Bundestag (now BSW), criticized EU commission president Ursula von der Leyen's speech calling for a new EU policy towards China, saying that "the EU and its member states want to challenge the emerging power China, including through military means."
On 22 October 2023, in the wake of Hamas's attack on Israel, Martin Schirdewan, former co-chair of Die Linke, spoke at a Berlin demonstration in solidarity with Israel.
During a Berlin party congress on 11 October 2024, the Berlin party branch passed a resolution condemning Hamas's attack on Israel, declaring that Hamas's attack does not justify that the Israeli military breaks international law, affirming Israel's right to exist, accusing the anti-Zionist left of antisemitism, calling for the release of all hostages held by Hamas, demanding that the German government stops the supply of weapons to Israel, and expressing support for a two-state solution. A week later and after heated discussions, the federal party congress approved a different declaration, in which they welcomed "the International Court of Justice's efforts to prevent a genocide", and the references to the anti-Zionist left were watered down. In disagreement with the federal resolution, five prominent members from Berlin abandoned the party.
In December 2024, the Palestinian-German activist Ramsis Kilani was expelled from Die Linke by a party arbitration panel for alleged antisemitism reported by Der Tagesspiegel, which critics of Die Linke's pro-Israel stance claim is distorted, falsified, and taken out of context. Der Tagesspiegel was previously found in court to have falsely accused a pro-Palestinian art venue of antisemitism.
Die Linke criticized Friedrich Merz's decision to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Germany, due to an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Jan van Aken said, "If Vladimir Putin comes to Germany, then this arrest warrant must be implemented. The same applies to Netanyahu."
