Those who expected Angela Merkel to admit mistakes or repent in Russia’s policy were disappointed, writes European correspondent Suvi Turtiainen.
Berlin. Former Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel returned to the public on Tuesday for the first time since he resigned from politics six months ago. He spoke in front of an audience in a Berlin theater.
There were revelations in store – at least a couple of small ones.
First, it was no coincidence that the Russian president Vladimir Putin released his lab retriever to Merkel in Sochi in 2007.
Merkel revealed on Tuesday that Putin had already donated a huge plush toy dog to him and referred to Merkel’s fear of dogs.
– I heard you have a problem with dogs, Merkel said.
So letting the dog into the same room was a deliberate intimidation.
Second, Merkel finally told me what language she and Putin spoke to each other. Reporters have been speculating on the issue for most of Merkel’s 16-year reign.
Merkel said Putin, who lived in East Germany, spoke better German than Merkel himself speaks Russia. So sometimes the language was German. But when it came to important things, they both spoke in their own languages through interpreters.
Those who expected Merkel to acknowledge great mistakes or repent in Russia’s policy were disappointed.
During the discussion, Merkel made it clear that she did not regret diplomatic relations with Russia.
“Diplomacy is not the wrong way to go, even if it doesn’t work,” Merkel replied.
Germany is has been the subject of tremendous criticism in recent months. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine showed that Germany’s economic and energy relations with Russia did not keep Putin in check, even though Germany hoped so.
In the case of Ukraine, there is criticism of slow and unclear arms deliveries in Germany.
Merkel said Tuesday she never believed Russia could be changed through trade relations. He still said he considered economic relations important at a time when the political relationship was difficult.
The former German chancellor said the relationship with Putin had completely changed with the conquest of Crimea in 2014. Yet Merkel continued to keep in touch with the Kremlin and meet with Putin – just like Finland’s political leadership until the major attack in February.
Ukraine has directly accused Germany of rejecting Ukraine’s bid to join NATO in 2008 at a meeting in Bucharest. Merkel said on Tuesday that Ukraine was still a politically divided country led by the oligarchs at the time and not like it is now.
However, he admitted that he did not want to provoke Putin either. According to Merkel, Putin would have seen Ukraine’s convergence as a declaration of war and started the war in Ukraine even then.
According to Merkel, NATO is the ultimate reason why Putin is seeking to decentralize and weaken the European Union.
– He wants to destroy the European Union because he sees it as a step towards NATO, Merkel said of Putin.
For half a year Merkel has not commented on the war in Ukraine except in small releases.
Now he felt it was clearly necessary to defend his long reign, which the great Russian offensive had put in a whole new light.
Thanksgiving for the rest of the season has turned into harsh criticism.
The editor of Der Spiegel was the interviewer Alexander Osang did not stab the former federal chancellor hard, but Merkel sovereignly controlled the evening’s debate. Merkel responded promptly, analytically, and often with dry humor.
The former chancellor would hardly have agreed to a hard press. He admitted directly that he would now accept only pleasant invitations.
He said he spent a quiet life listening to audiobooks and taking walks on the shores of the winter Baltic Sea in a hood. The reading list has included Shakespeare.
– Personally, I’m doing well, Merkel said.
Still, he decided to return to the public to talk about Russia and the war in Ukraine. Above all, it says that Merkel wants to state her own position on how things went in the end, now that European history is being rewritten.