The appeasement of Russia according to Angela Merkel's model did not work. The former German Chancellor stubbornly refuses to admit the failure of her policy towards Putin. By Konstantin Eggert.
Angela Merkel probably did not intend to cause a scandal. In an interview with the left-wing Hungarian portal Partizàn, the former German Chancellor was simply promoting her memoirs. She decided to talk about her attempts to prevent a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, but dropped a media bombshell.
Merkel's interview and the delight of Z-bloggers
"In June 2021, I felt that Putin no longer took the Minsk agreements seriously, and that is why I wanted to create a new format in which we could talk directly with Putin on behalf of the European Union (EU)," Merkel said in the interview. However, the plan failed. "Some did not support it. First of all, these were the Baltic countries, but Poland was also against it. In any case, the new format (of negotiations with Russia – ed. note) did not materialize. I left my post and then Putin's aggression began," summarizes the former German Chancellor.
And although "after that" does not necessarily mean "as a result", it was this logical chain that was perceived by many as shifting some of the responsibility for the Russian invasion of Central Europe.
In the Baltic capitals and Warsaw, Merkel's words caused the expected storm of indignation. After all, it was the Lithuanians and Poles who, since the Russian attack on Georgia in 2008, had been warning that Russia would not stop there.
Russian propaganda broadcasts and Z-channels on Telegram also exploded, but with joy. According to them, the former head of government of the most populous country in the EU had sided with them and confirmed that the "patented Russophobes" from the Baltic states and Poland were to blame for the continent's current problems. It was they who had hindered the "true Europeans" to establish relations with the great eastern neighbor, to hand over to "us", that is, to Russia, control over all these "Ukrainians" and "Moldovan" and to receive in return cheap gas and a large market for European industrial production.
What I understood when I had dinner with Merkel
In the distant summer of 2008, I had the opportunity to talk to Merkel personally during an informal and rather long dinner. Without going into details about the private conversation, I will share my main impression: Angela Merkel has consciously and long ago decided to follow a line of de facto appeasement of the Putin regime.
Unlike her predecessor Gerhard Schröder, whom the Kremlin easily brought under control with flattery and the post in "Nord Stream", Merkel has hardly received any personal benefit from this policy. The former Chancellor believed and apparently still believes that she acted in the interests of Germany and that same "real" Europe, which begins west of the border between Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany.
The calculations were as follows: Russia may not become and most likely will not become a democracy, but the purely material benefits of dependence on oil and gas will be so significant for it that the Kremlin will necessarily choose "peace and stability". And if this requires (unofficially, of course) agreement with Moscow's political dominance in the so-called "post-Soviet space", then this would generally be an acceptable price.
The interview with Merkel – a gift for Putin, AfD and the communists
In light of such a policy, it seems logical that at the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008, Merkel blocked the accession of Georgia and Ukraine to the Alliance - in alliance with former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. It was this decision that became a real, not a fictional, root cause of Russian aggression against both countries.
Merkel's interview for the Hungarian portal is a gift not only for Russian propaganda, but also for the European far right and far left. Both - although for different reasons - hate Merkel. For them, she is a symbol of – – – – globalism, – – – the dictates of the EU, – – – German revanchism, – – the policy of open borders, – everyone will find something to criticize her for. But the French and Czech communists, Fico, Orban and the "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) will now say: "If Merkel also thinks that not only Putin is to blame for the war, then it turns out that we are right". Therefore, support for Ukraine must be stopped and peace must be negotiated at all costs (i.e. at the expense of the same Ukraine).
Joseph Beck, who served as Poland's foreign minister in the 1930s, said the following: "Peace, like almost everything in life, has a price - high, but completely determinable". Peace according to Merkel's model did not come true. It is a pity that she herself - at least for now - is not ready to admit it. Ukraine is paying the price for her failed policy today.
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This comment expresses the personal opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the DW as a whole.