Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, former German Chancellor Merkel has been frequently caught in the gun. Some people questioned that his energy policy was overly dependent on Russia, and some people accused Merkel of being too moderate in his attitude towards Putin . Recently, Merkel reappeared in the media to clarify the matter.
(Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel)
In an interview, Merkel said in an interview that before she stepped down, the atmosphere between Russia and Ukraine was already very tense. At that time, Merkel and Macron were preparing to work with Putin to promote a talks mechanism within European Council to solve the Ukrainian issue. However, due to term issues, Merkel, who is about to step down, has greatly reduced its influence and failed to facilitate tripartite talks.
Before she stepped down, she also visited Russia. Merkel and Putin both lived in East Germany, so there are many common languages between them.
(Merkel Putin has a lot of origin)
Merkel said bluntly that she could feel that she no longer had influence among her Russian counterparts because he was about to lose all his political rights until the arrival of the new German Prime Minister. The most obvious point is that the two met one-on-one before, but in her last visit, Putin and Lavrov worked together to deal with Merkel's visit.
Merkel said in an interview that he did not regret his decision to step down. She believes that not only did her government not make any progress in the Ukrainian crisis, but also did not make much contribution to conflict issues in other regions, so a replacement is an acceptable option.
(Macron)
In fact, it is not only that, the cause of the current European energy crisis is actually related to the strategy of the Merkel government. In , in order to implement environmental protection measures, the Merkel government voluntarily stopped many thermal power plants and nuclear power plants in Germany, which made Germany increasingly dependent on Russian natural gas, and the proportion of natural gas imported from Russia also increased to 55%.
Merkel and Putin also vigorously promoted the construction of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline during their term of office. In addition to meeting their natural gas needs, it is also to increase Germany's voice within EU .
However, because of Russia's special military actions, anti-Russia has become the new political correctness of Europeans, and the Merkel government, which has always worked closely with the Russian side, has become the target of public criticism and has received extensive criticism. In fact, there is another reason why Merkel was criticized. In the early days of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, leaders and politicians of many countries made accusations against Putin, but Merkel never spoke out.
(Zelensky is unwilling to negotiate)
Later, Merkel has always had this attitude. For example, through a spokesperson statement, she refused to apologize for the Minsk Agreement that she led and coordinated. She also said that the agreement brought peace at the time and bought a lot of time for Kiev . At the same time, Merkel does not think it is very bad to maintain energy exchanges with Russia, because in her opinion, Russia is a reliable supplier.
This time, she also expressed her views on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, claiming that if all European countries target Russia, the situation will get worse and worse. Only by letting Russia participate can Europe achieve peace.
(German Chancellor Scholz)
This is completely inconsistent with the current Scholz government's approach to the United States and Russia's decoupling as much as possible. Facts have proved that Merkel's vision and pattern are worthy of the title of politicians, and Scholz's propositions are likely to lead to the EU in a state of doom.
