Yuri Kobzar14:32, 05/26/23

German society is rethinking Merkel’s 16-year rule, which seemed like a golden age, but led to a nightmarish war.

In April this year, Angela Merkel received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for Germany, the country’s highest honor, previously awarded only to the first post-war chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and to the uniting chancellor of East and West Germany, Helmut Kohl. 

The fact that Merkel was placed on a par with the creators of modern Germany forced German society to seriously reconsider its assessment of the seemingly successful 16-year rule of the first woman chancellor. Especially in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, writes The Wall Street Journal .

“Merkel was a key architect of the agreements that made the economy of Germany and its neighbors dependent on energy imports from Russia. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine destroyed this strategic partnership, forcing Germany to look elsewhere for oil and natural gas, at a huge cost to businesses, government and households “, – notes the publication.VIDEO OF THE DAYplay video

Also now Merkel was reminded that during the years of her rule, defense budgets were cut year after year. On the day of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the commander of the Bundeswehr, Lieutenant General Alfons Mays, said that the once powerful German army was now so weakened that it was no longer capable of repelling a Russian attack of this magnitude.

Particularly outrageous for Germans today is the fact that after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, Merkel not only did not refuse to buy energy from the Kremlin, but worked to double her gas imports from Russia. Many German pundits and even former Merkel allies now believe that this alone gave Vladimir Putin the courage to launch a new invasion eight years later.

“At an event last year, Merkel recalled that after the annexation of Crimea, Putin told her that he wanted to destroy the European Union. But she continued to promote plans to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline despite US protests. Merkel’s government also approved the sale of Germany’s largest gas storage facilities. Russian state gas company,” writes the WSJ.

After Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, then NATO Secretary General, warned Merkel against making Germany even more dependent on the Kremlin. According to him, for Putin, the pipeline “had nothing to do with business or the economy – it was a geopolitical weapon.”

The publication states that after leaving the post of chancellor and the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, Merkel did not admit mistakes and did not apologize for them.

Merkel did not react when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly invited her last April to visit Bucha, the site of Russia’s war crimes, to see what he called the results of her policy of giving in to Putin.

Worse, in September, in one of her speeches, Merkel said that her political mentor, German unifier Helmut Kohl (now deceased) would not only support Ukraine, but “would also think about what now seems unthinkable, simply unimaginable, namely, how to develop something like a relationship with Russia again.” This statement by Merkel in Germany was perceived at least as inappropriate.

Another strategic mistake Merkel is called by many is her decision to completely abandon nuclear energy, which has just happened in stages to this day. The decision was taken as a response to the Japanese Fukushima disaster, but in the end made Germany even more dependent on Russian gas.

It is Merkel who is considered to be the person who blocked the movement of Ukraine and Georgia to NATO membership in 2008. Then she vetoed the call of the administration of US President George W. Bush to accept these two countries into the alliance. This was confirmed by a former employee of the US National Security Council and adviser to the US President on Russia Fiona Hill.

Instead, Merkel helped orchestrate an open but non-binding NATO invitation to Ukraine and Georgia, which Hill said was “the worst possible event” because it both pissed off Putin and, on the other hand, failed to provide both countries no protection.

After Russia’s hybrid invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Merkel led efforts to quickly resolve the acute phase of the conflict. But, as the WSJ notes, her efforts ultimately only disappointed Kyiv, since Russia did not suffer any significant punishment for the occupation of the territories of its neighbor. 

“There were no red lines drawn for Putin. Merkel took a calculated risk. It was a gambit, but in the end it failed,” Hill said. 

The WSJ notes that a number of experts are coming to exactly this conclusion: the failure of the West to draw red lines and continued economic cooperation with Germany prompted Putin to launch a full-scale attack in 2022. 

“Okay, so I can get away with it. So why not continue,” Putin thought, according to the WSJ.

The publication states that Merkel still has supporters, but they are becoming less and less, as Germany is forced to overcome the consequences of her 16-year rule, which gave rise to severe crises.

Ukraine and Merkel – latest news

In April, Angela Merkel gave an interview to German journalists, in which she again stated that she considers her policy towards Russia to be correct and does not see her guilt in the fact that this policy led Europe to the largest war since the Second World War.

“I tried to prevent this situation with what was at my disposal. The fact that it did not work is not proof that this attempt was wrong,” the ex-chancellor said.

At the same time, commenting on the realities of the internal agenda in Germany, Merkel lamented that the Germans today are more concerned about the war in Ukraine than climate protection issues.

(C)UNIAN 2023