The issue of anti-Russian sanctions caused tension between the political camps in Germany – Independent Newspaper

The issue of anti-Russian sanctions caused tension between the political camps in Germany – Independent Newspaper

The issue of anti-Russian sanctions caused tension between the political camps
 Germany

Photos Reuters

 

The watershed between the supporters of tougher sanctions regime against Russia and their opponents took place not only in Europe as a whole, but also for individual European states. An illustrative example of this – a recent survey conducted by the German broadcaster ARD. The majority of Germans opposed the expansion of sanctions against Russia in the conflict over Ukraine. According to a survey in support of tougher punitive measures currently serve only 19% of Germans, 43% think the West has imposed sanctions ample.

  
 

More than a quarter of Germans (27%) in favor of a complete lifting of sanctions. At the same time much more supporters of this position (38%) – in the eastern federal states; in the western support this option 23% of respondents, said the German agency Deutsche Welle (DW).

  
 

Indirectly, that nuances on sanctions can be found at the governmental level, according to recent statements by political leaders of Germany. Analysts German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) analyzed the recent speech of the Christian Democratic leader Angela Merkel the German government and one of the leaders of the German Social Democrats, former chairman of the German-Russian Forum Matthias Platzeck. As is known, in Brisbane, where the meeting G20, Angela Merkel said the most rigid (according to many analysts) anti-Putin speech. The other day, November 25, during a speech at the Congress of the European family businesses in Berlin, she reiterated that economic sanctions against Moscow will remain in force if Russia does not change its policy towards Ukraine.

  
 

Matthias Platzeck in his interview commented on Russian-German relations in a much more conciliatory. However, the next day he tried to disavow some of his statements that could be interpreted as the need for international legal recognition of ownership of the Crimea Russia. However columnist FAZ Berthold Kohler notes that there are fundamentally different position in relation to Russia in the mouth of two politicians. While it is no secret that the government coalition, these differences are trying to belittle and to conceal. But, as noted by DW, speech Merkel and Platzeck demonstrated tension prevailing in Germany, and the whole of the Western alliance between the different camps.

  
 

The main approach Merkel Putin and Russia is the statement that the Russian president is seeking to expand the zone of influence of the West and this is already a danger not only for Ukraine but also for the whole European world order as a whole. She had no doubt that any concessions Putin may be regarded as further evidence of the weak will of the West, and this may encourage the Russian leader to further attempts to seize foreign territories.

  
 

Platzeck as Merkel says about the danger of the spread of the conflict. But the findings do the exact opposite. He advocates a policy of appeasement in its classical version. It boils down to the fact that it is necessary to retroactively legalize contrary to international law, the annexation of the Crimea, and with all the diplomatic attributes, including the approval of the action by the OSCE. In addition, the “return” of Eastern Ukraine in the Ukrainian state “after all that has happened,” he seems unlikely.

  
 

Where is the solution? Merkel leaves no doubt that tolerate the aggressive actions of Russia, it is not going to, but, apparently, she does not want to resort to military and anti-Russian actions. Apparently, in Germany (and, apparently, for Europe in general) we can talk primarily about strengthening the sanctions regime. That is why the new Foreign Minister of Poland Grzegorz Shetina and urged the EU now to prepare new sanctions against Russia in case if Moscow, he said, will launch a new aggression in eastern Ukraine, for example in order to capture Mariupol. “In that case we will have to immediately impose new sanctions, not only to start their training,” – he said in an interview with the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.

  
 

For the Social Democratic Chancellor Merkel opponent more important to understand the reasons that led to the current crisis in relations between Russia and the West. He therefore called upon to understand the “fear of Russia surrounded by enemies.” Berthold Kohler concludes let Matthias Platzeck already took back his words, pretended in his excursion into the history of the world just by chance “found himself in Sevastopol,” but expressed something with which many agree. Namely: yes give Putin has what he wants (and de facto already have) – and that’s that. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that it would be a “fatal mistake».

  
 

At that this discussion can expect the Kremlin? It is no secret that the sanctions, particularly in the financial sector, very negative impact on the Russian economy, and, if dismiss propaganda chatter mass media close to the Kremlin, the Russian economy is much greater losses than western firms and banks. Decisive will be the development of the situation in the south-eastern Ukraine.

  
 

There are well-founded suspicions that even voiced by representatives of the Russian political elite that Kiev intends to bring the situation in the south-east to the new large-scale military confrontation in order to achieve the strengthening of anti-Russian sanctions and even the possible involvement of the West in direct military conflict with Russia (as the military the victory of the Ukrainian army today is questionable). But this is a direct path to the third world war, and it seems that this fact is well understood and in European capitals and in Washington.