After exactly six months out of the spotlight, Angela Merkel returned to the German public on Tuesday evening. For a short while, at least. From the stage of a sold-out theater in Berlin, the former chancellor gave her first major interview since she passed the baton to Olaf Scholz in December.
The conversation quickly turned to Russia's attack on Ukraine, the all-dominating event in Europe in the intervening months. Not least, she was asked what she and Germany could have done to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Merkel, who led Germany for 16 years, had not come to ask for forgiveness.
- I don't have to blame myself for not making a big enough effort. I don't see that I should sit here and say that "this and that was wrong", and therefore I have nothing to apologize for, Merkel said, according to the AFP news agency.
Not naive despite close energy cooperation
Both Merkel and other German chancellors have been criticized for their close diplomatic relations with Russia. Merkel herself met regularly with Putin during her time as chancellor and advocated strong trade cooperation with Russia.
During her time, Germany's imports of Russian oil and gas increased, making the Germans economically dependent on Putin's whims. Her government also approved the large Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, which has been built but was put on hold by Scholz's government in February. However, Merkel does not believe that she has been too naive in her approach to Putin.
- I tried to work towards avoiding trouble. But if diplomacy doesn't work, that doesn't mean it's wrong, said the now 67-year-old former politician.
Ukraine wasn't ready for NATO
Among the critics of Merkel's line is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In April, he named her and then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy as complicit in Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.
He invited them to Butja - a city where Russia is accused of committing massacres of civilians - "to see what 14 years of concessions to Russia have led to," Zelensky said in one of his daily speeches, according to the media outlet Politico.eu.
However, Merkel will not call it a mistake that in 2008 she helped block Ukraine's inclusion in the Western defense alliance, NATO. She says that Ukraine was not ready at the time and that she wanted to avoid "further escalation" with Vladimir Putin, who was already angry at NATO's expansion eastward.
But Putin's invasion this year has been a turning point and "a big mistake," she says. There is no excuse or justification for it, Merkel emphasizes.
- He wants to destroy Europe. It is enormously important for the EU to stay together right now, says the former chancellor.
Ritzau / AFP
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
