Jean-Claude Juncker: – “We didn’t fight so hard in the past”

Date:

Ex-Commissioner Jean-Claude Juncker (67) interrupted his holiday in Stanglwirt to talk about his new life, his successor, Putin and developments in the EU: “This war rhetoric completely disturbs me.”

A background like a photo wallpaper. The rugged peaks of the Wilder Kaiser lie under a blue sky in the midday sun. A fountain gently laps on the edge of the meadow. While Stanglwirt junior boss Maria Hauser fills a pitcher with ice-cold spring water in a dirndl and puts it on the table, she is already being waved off by her prominent guest. Jean-Claude Juncker (67) is back! “The 13th year in a row,” he remarks cheerfully.

Together with his wife, he spends two weeks a year with the Hausers in Going. Arriving by car, before he leaves, he sometimes takes the baton himself at the weekly brass band concert. “Unfortunately I can no longer walk due to my back problems (note: since a serious car accident in 1989, after which he was in a coma for two weeks, he has been plagued by severe sciatica and walking problems). And because of that stupid nose thing I recently had something removed from, I can’t go out in the sun either. But I relax, read a lot and enjoy the peace.”

From 2014 to 2019, the Luxembourger was head of the European Commission. During his time Greece was saved, the great migration crisis and Brexit. The law graduate is a member of the conservative EPP, tamed Trump, negotiated with Putin and was notorious for his jokes. His special sense of humor and his kissing attacks are legendary (see also the photo gallery).

„krone“: How is your life in retirement?
Jean Claude Juncker: I am still in my office in the Commission building in Brussels two days a week, meeting Commissioners, political leaders and former heads of government. I give lectures and write a book about my years in Brussels. I write in German and try to overcome my writer’s block (laughs). But my life has become easier, I have less stress and no more 16-hour days. I didn’t want to put myself and my family back to work for the office.

In a farewell interview, you thought about what you would do with your more than 55,000 books. What has become of it?
It’s a good thing I have multiple offices! They are now distributed there and the rest at home.

Do you miss the EU or are you glad you no longer have to deal with all the crises?
I do not miss you. She outlived me and I have a keen interest in everyday politics.

Does your successor Ursula von der Leyen sometimes ask you for advice?
We see each other now and then, we work in the same building in Brussels. But we don’t stay together. My successor is doing his best. Not only do you have the crises that come your way, you also have to live with the crises that you did not prevent in time. The relationship with Russia has not only been ruined by Putin, we have also clouded it. I don’t want to justify an aggressive war – because there is never a justification for war – but in the past we didn’t fight conflicts so loudly on the open stage.

In 2019 you said in the “Mirror” that you had kissed Erdoğan and Putin and “neither was at the expense of Europe”.
I’ve known Putin since 2000. We talked all night, always in German by the way. But it was always private. We had very good contact, but we always showed each other clear lines and spoke clearly. Now I am extremely disappointed. I never believed he was able to push boundaries. If I ask myself now, we were not naive, but we were careless.

Click Through: Juncker’s Legendary Kiss Attacks

A heated debate has erupted about whether you should or can talk to someone like Putin. What do you mean?
There is no security architecture without Russia. We need to talk to him. Without negotiations we will not come to a solution because we cannot change the geography. Russia has 17.2 million square kilometers, Europe only five million.

Despite this, the EU is actively involved in the war by supplying arms and making payments to Ukraine. Can the EU still call itself a peace project?
I am very concerned that we are in a time reminiscent of the Cold War era. This war rhetoric disturbs me as a human being and irritates me that we are talking about rearmament again and that the peace movement has been forgotten. I’m shaped differently and don’t believe in weapons that make the world a safer place. I am also not a big proponent of sanctions and arms sales. But now there is no other choice. You have to take advantage of the opportunities that are available.

Some of your VP party colleagues in Austria now see things differently and demand that the sanctions be checked for their effectiveness. For example, Thomas Stelzer said in a “Krone” interview: “Are the sanctions still effective in bringing about peace, or are they more likely to collapse and turn against us and against the progress of our economy, against social cohesion? ?” Isn’t the price slowly getting too high for its own population?
Not really. The counter-sanctions had to be taken into account.

What could a solution look like?
If I knew that, I’d get the Nobel Peace Prize. Putin evades any categorical evaluation.

What about European solidarity? How do you feel about your ‘dictator’ Orbán going it alone? Hungary even went to Moscow and bought extra gas. Time for a tap again?
You can see my foresight from then! You cannot forbid Hungary to go to Russia. (cryptic) But those who fight for advantages now will not be protected from suffering disadvantages in a few years.

Several countries, such as Spain, Italy and Greece, have also opposed the EU’s energy emergency plan.
Sensitivities had to be taken into account in order to reach agreement. It is a pan-European problem: if you don’t have a problem, you will have to share it with others. In addition, we must ensure that we can obtain energy from Europe. I am surprised, by the way, that some people who have criticized reliance on Russia are now looking for alternatives, deftly turning to Saudi Arabia and Qatar – not exactly flawless democracies either!

Here we are in Tyrol, which, like the east of the country, is flooded by transit. Is the unrestricted movement of goods from the early days of the EU still ecologically acceptable in times of climate change? In addition to the road tax, Austria also pays the CO2 fine for it.
Here we are, so to speak, in the distant Vienna province. It is an objectively identifiable problem. That’s why I’m surprised that a negotiated solution hasn’t been addressed there yet.

Speaking of ecology: is the EU traveling circus between Brussels and Strasbourg still relevant?
It’s not cheap and it’s not convenient, but there’s a reason for it if you respect history. Brussels has become a dirty word for anyone who criticizes the EU. One might also think that Parliament in Strasbourg has the last word.

(Mrs Juncker, a sympathetic woman with funny curls, points to the clock from afar) “You see – not just common sense, home power too!”

Last question: As a passionate kisser, how did you deal with social distancing during the Corona crisis?
(laughs) The world has suffered as much from the Juncker kiss shortage as I have.

The photographer asks, “Do you have time for a few photos?”

Juncker kindly: “I don’t have time, but I’ll do it anyway.”

Source: Krone

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe

Popular

More like this
Related

Brussels warns Trump that there is no “justification” to impose EU steel and aluminum rates

"We will respond to the protection of the interests...

Fraud and blackout – New research against Manker Director Director

"Introduction to an investigation against Paulus Manker due to...