The former chancellor expresses confidence in her successor and defends her policy towards Russia
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly condemned Russia’s offensive war against Ukraine tonight, noting that she had no bad conscience for not making more efforts during her tenure to stem the escalation of the conflict between the two countries of the former Soviet Union. to prevent. “I don’t blame myself,” Merkel said in her first public appearance since leaving power six months ago. The Russian army’s offensive in Ukraine is “a brutal attack, which ignores international law and for which there is no justification,” said the veteran conservative politician during a conversation with an editor of the weekly magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ on the stage of the theater. by the Berliner Ensemble and for the public.
Although her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), currently does not rule and leads the opposition in Berlin, Merkel said she has faith in foreign policy in the tripartite Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals led by the current Chancellor , Olaf Scholz, who was his last Secretary of the Treasury. “I couldn’t imagine not having faith in the current federal government,” said the former statesman. Since leaving power, his public appearances have been regarded as a dropper and the announcement of the act at the prestigious Bertolt Brecht stage to answer journalist Alexander Osang’s questions about “the challenges of the problems of our time” had high expectations raised.
Asked if she could have done it differently so that the conflict in Ukraine did not lead to another war, Merkel said that “it has not been possible to build a security architecture that would have prevented what is happening now”. And while her past policies are now criticized by some analysts because of her close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Merkel championed several aspects of it, such as the Minsk agreement that Paris and Berlin had negotiated as mediators before Kiev and Moscow. “Could more have been done to prevent such a tragedy? And I believe that this situation is already a great tragedy. That’s why I ask myself this question over and over,” the former Chancellor confessed.
He also responded to a question from Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andreij Melnyk, who is highly critical of Merkel and who he accused of pursuing a policy of reconciliation with Putin and Moscow that has been unsuccessful. “That is not my opinion,” Merkel insisted, emphasizing that diplomacy, even when it fails, is never a mistake. The former conservative leader assured that if the Minsk accord had not been signed at the time, the situation would have escalated much sooner, just as Ukraine had been admitted to NATO. “I don’t see why I would say that was wrong and I have no intention of apologizing for that,” Merkel said. He noted that during the more than fifteen years of his mandate, he was constantly dealing with the consequences of the dissolution of the Soviet Union after the fall of the Berlin Wall and recalled that Putin had met him during a visit to Sochi in 2007. told that this dissolution was the greatest disaster of the 20th century, while for her it meant the greatest fortune because she enjoyed the freedom she never had.
Angela Merkel also urged to emphasize that her intention is not to be seen as a reserved ruler whose statements are decisive. “It’s not my job to make comments from the edge of the field,” the also former chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said, although she admitted that pressure on her person has increased to support what she did during her administration. explain policy. after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Merkel also denied blame for the poor state of the German armed forces, recalling that they have always satisfactorily fulfilled their international missions and championed the abolition of compulsory military service in Germany during her time as Chancellor.
The former chancellor spoke at length about the time after leaving power, revealing that she enjoyed five weeks of rest on the Baltic Sea coast, taking the opportunity to read extensively and discover audio books and thereby explore Shakespeare’s literature. She moves a lot more than before and although she was afraid of being bored, “I always have many things to do” that Abbess did not have time for. “Today I am personally doing very well,” Merkel said, emphasizing that voluntary resignation as head of government was a “good feeling” at the time. Despite everything, he emphasized that he is still a “political person” and that sometimes, given the events in the world, he feels “like many other depressed people.” In view of the events in Ukraine, he assured that “the time after my mandate I imagined otherwise”.
Source: La Verdad
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