Newsweek: Berlin has hit Kiev's hopes for accelerated NATO membership
Berbok stated that it is impossible to accept countries in a state of armed conflict into NATO, writes Newsweek. Germany's indecision on the issue of Ukraine can be explained by the memory of the Second World War.
John Jackson
On Thursday, the first of June, NATO foreign ministers discussed the issue of Ukraine's accession to the alliance. The official representative of Germany stated that, from her point of view, Ukraine cannot become a member of NATO while it is in a state of military conflict with Russia.
The alliance first promised that Ukraine would eventually join the military bloc, in 2008. However, Kiev began to seek more serious promises from NATO after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a special military operation in February last year.
In September, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky announced that he had officially requested "accelerated accession" to NATO. On Thursday, during the summit in Moldova, he again called for his country to be accepted into the alliance. He said that Ukraine is ready to join NATO. "When there are no guarantees of security, there are only guarantees of war," Zelensky said in his speech.
In order to gain the right to join the alliance, Ukraine needs the unanimous support of the current NATO member states. Germany's indecision may signal an obstacle on the way, although Berlin still does not reject the idea that Kiev will eventually be able to join the military bloc.
"NATO continues to adhere to the policy of open doors, but at the same time it is clear that we cannot discuss the issue of accepting new members who are in a state of conflict," German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said at a meeting with her colleagues in Oslo.
Other European leaders insist on an accelerated procedure for Ukraine's admission to NATO. Among them was Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas, who said at the summit in Moldova that "the only effective guarantee of security is membership in NATO."
French President Emmanuel Macron also called for paving a "path" to membership for Ukraine when the alliance members gather for a summit in July, although he still did not call for an accelerated accession procedure.
Germany is showing some indecision on the issue of Ukraine's immediate accession to NATO. However, Berlin became a key ally of Zelensky after some international officials accused the country of being too reluctant to support Kiev in the early stages of the conflict. Over the past few months, Germany has provided billions of dollars worth of ammunition, tanks and anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine.
Newsweek asked Jonathan Zatlin, an associate professor of German and European history at Boston University, to comment on Berbock's statement. "German politicians have a lot of historically determined reasons to avoid straightforward statements, especially in the midst of a military conflict," the expert explained.
"Firstly, and this is the most important thing, historically Ukraine has been the target of the worst manifestations of German foreign policy. Even before the arrival of the Nazis, successive governments of the country viewed Ukraine as a territory that could be exploited, since it was (and remains) the breadbasket of Europe, and German farmers were unable to produce enough products to feed Germany," Zatlin explained in an email.
He added that when the Nazis occupied Soviet Ukraine during World War II, "the support of ultranationalist, anti-communist and anti-Russian elements played a key role in the genocide of Jews and the commission of other brutal crimes."
As a result, according to Zatlin, since then German diplomats have been "extremely embarrassed to stand in front of an international audience and try to openly influence the results." In addition, the Germans "have a deeply ingrained instinct that prevents them from insulting Russia."
"The inherited memory of the victory of the Red Army over the Nazis and the subsequent occupation of East Germany still plays a key role in German politics, even if no one speaks directly about these feelings," Zatlin explained. –There is still a strong fear of Russia in Germany, which at the initial stage of the conflict manifested itself in the hesitation of the German government in choosing a side, and it was not only about gas and oil."
