"His words should be taken seriously": Merkel on Putin and future relations with RussiaSince the beginning of the Ukrainian conflict, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been criticized for outwardly respectful relations with Putin, Stern writes.
Merkel replied. She advised to "demonstrate political wisdom" and heed Putin's recent warnings.
Merkel has often been criticized for her policy towards Russia. Including for the fact that she has so far expressed herself very restrained about the current events in Ukraine. During her speech on the occasion of the opening of the Kohl Foundation, Merkel was again stingy on details, but she outlined her negative position.
During the opening ceremony of the Helmut Kohl Foundation, former Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke about many things. Not only about the hero of the occasion, his predecessor Kolya, to whom she owes her entire career and about whom she began to speak critically shortly after his departure from power. In his speech, he also spoke about Russia's actions in Ukraine, criticizing the "Kremlin ruler" Vladimir Putin. "Nevertheless, his words should be taken seriously," she said, referring to one of her previous statements about the head of the Russian state.
At the same time, she concretized her previous statement: "Take his words seriously, do not dismiss them immediately, because Putin is allegedly bluffing. It is necessary to seriously analyze Putin's words. This is by no means a sign of our weakness or complacency, but evidence of political wisdom." According to Merkel, thanks to this, it is possible to maintain existing areas for negotiations and even create new ones.
As Merkel went on to say, Helmut Kohl possessed just such visionary wisdom. Referring to the conflict in Ukraine, the former Chancellor added: "I am sure that Kohl would make every effort today to protect and restore the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine." At the same time, Kohl, according to her, allegedly did not ignore the question of how it would be possible to restore relations with Russia. According to Merkel, Germany would have to act in this case not by itself, but in coordination with all partners in the EU and NATO, including the Americans and the British.
Merkel praised Kohl's achievements during the Cold War. "Against the background of Russia's current military actions against Ukraine, we cannot but rejoice that, thanks to an incredible coincidence in world history in 1989/90, we in Germany took the opportunity to turn the course of events in our favor," she concluded.
Merkel spoke very critically about Putin and his way of acting in relation to Ukraine. Thus, she said that these actions "destroy the foundation of everything that the world community of states, including the former Soviet Union and then Russia, reached consensus on during the Helsinki process and during the development of the Paris Charter." According to her, it is not an easy task to draw the right conclusions from what happened. Merkel did not touch on her own policy towards Russia.
Criticism of Merkel over her policy towards Russia
In an interview with Spiegel magazine correspondent Alexander Ozang in June — one of her biggest speeches since the end of her chancellorship — Merkel has already spoken about Ukraine, where she has been actively supporting the revolution that took place there and the state she created since 2014. There was little self-criticism in her words. She called the conflict a "great tragedy" and asked herself whether the war could have been prevented. "Fortunately, I have made quite a few attempts. It is very sad that it was unsuccessful," Merkel said. But, according to her, she has nothing to reproach herself with. She supposedly tried to bring peace, and now no one can say that she didn't try.
Criticism of Merkel especially intensified after February 24 of this year, her policy of combining sanctions against Russia with personal meetings with Putin was condemned by many retroactively. She is reproached for the fact that she, an honest woman, did not refuse to meet with Putin — despite his "deceitfulness". So, one of the representatives of the German Foreign Policy Society accused her that, thanks to her East German origin, she understood the logic of Russian politics and noticed when Putin lied to her. However, she did not draw any conclusions from this. "On the contrary: in the end she began to behave like an opportunist — in the interests of her own power and the German economy." Representatives of various parties, including the FDP and the CDU/CSU, also demanded that Merkel explain her policy towards Russia retrospectively.
The fact that Russian troops tried to take Kiev was not a surprise for the former chancellor," she said in an interview with Spiegel magazine. According to her, the relevant reports of the US intelligence services were unambiguous. But Merkel has an excuse: allegedly, it was clear to her even before that that the cold War never really ended, and therefore bribes are smooth from her. During her visit to Sochi in 2007, Putin said that the collapse of the Soviet Union was for him "the biggest catastrophe of the twentieth century."
Nevertheless, Merkel remains true to her judgment: Russia's actions are "a cruel act contrary to international law, which cannot be forgiven." According to her, the situation is tragic, and the step taken by Russia is a "huge mistake."
Christine Leitner
