© EPA-EFE/FILIP SINGER/POOL
Having kept silent for half a year, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has for the third time come into the spotlight of the media with an interview to the RedaktionsNetwerk Deutschland joint corporate newsroom she gave at her new office. She was naturally asked about her attitude to Russia, while plans to "get to know the western lands of Germany better" became sort of a fixing.
Unlike many sitting German politicians who have recently turned from pragmatic functionaries into staunch Russophobes, Angela Merkel still has a sensible view of motives for her 16-year service as head of the German government. She particularly refuted the West’s characteristic allegations that "Russia weaponized natural gas and Nord Stream 2." Merkel also reminded that the pipeline did not function at the moment when Russia's special military operation began in Ukraine, with its certification currently frozen, according to current Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
The ex-chancellor pointed to the benefit of purchasing Russia’s pipeline gas rather than LNG from the Middle East and the United States. Her government was ready to build terminals in Germany to receive liquefied gas from overseas, but none of the companies took on this project over unreasonable prices. Regarding the decision to build another branch from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea, Angela Merkel said "she did not believe in change through trade, but in a connection through trade with the second largest nuclear power in the world." She made little secret of this step being a challenging one, as the West philosophized over Russia’s possible waiver of pumping fuel via Ukraine right after Nord Stream 2 kicked off. However, the West ultimately managed to preserve the transit. "In that sense, gas was not a weapon," Angela Merkel pointed out.
The ex-Chancellor seems to be making it clear that her government is outside the framework of halting Nord Stream certification and the entire situation with record-high natural gas prices in Europe. Merkel may very well be sympathizing with current "green" Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is arduously developing multibillion-dollar gas saving programs to fill German storage facilities by this fall, so that national industry does not brake to a halt as winter sets in, and people do not start freezing in their houses and apartments.
Many German politicians and media have immediately rained down on Angela Merkel, accusing her of sounding like she has no shadow of remorse for her "wrong peaceful policy" towards Russia ˗ and working out repentance for that has become a common thing in increasingly Russophobic Germany. The unique NachDenkSeiten portal, which defines itself as the "critical website", made a curious statement in this regard. According to its authors, Angela Merkel should be criticized not for too much thaw in relations with Russia under her reign, but for the opposite.
According to the portal, instead of trying to improve relations with the Russian Federation, Merkel acted as the European Union’s driving force behind anti-Russian sanctions, toeing the line of the United States instead of campaigning for a policy of detente and preventing a new cold war. However, the portal admits that Merkel has consistently defended Germany's interests in obtaining cheap gas from Russia but has to plead guilty for the fractured relations with Russia, along with all the high-ranking German politicians of recent years. After all, this has jeopardized the safety and well-being of all the Europeans, writes an observer with NachDenkSeiten.
Admittedly, such critical arguments are a black swan in the German media space, where Spiegel-like attacks prevail, as it wrote that the ex-chancellor "failed to admit her mistakes, failed to even apologize or explain why she made us dependent on energy resources from Russia and blocked Ukraine's ascension into NATO."
Meanwhile, acting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz unexpectedly endorsed Angela Merkel, although one can hardly deem his interview with the DPA agency as whole-hearted support. On the one hand, Scholz spoke approvingly about his predecessor’s policy of reconciliation with Russia, and on the other hand, he called the German energy policy a mistake, because Germany has grown excessively dependent on Russia. "I have always worked well with the former chancellor and I do not see any reason to question this afterwards," Scholz said. He also upheld Merkel's 2008 decision to block Ukraine's entry into NATO.
Scholz himself is now getting scolded, primarily by leader of the CDU opposition party Friedrich Merz, for his government’s failure to live up to its promises of sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. By the way, Scholz pledges active support to Zelensky as regards obtaining the status of an EU candidate country. His latest initiative to this effect is to ease the relevant formalities. The German chancellor is committed to Ukraine defeating Russia but this means finding himself in a mixed bag of hawkish freaks like Liz Truss, Annalena Baerbock, Josep Borrel and Ben Wallace.
