Crimea is Russia. What do the Germans think about it
In a speech by 18 in March, on the occasion of the signing of an agreement on the entry of Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia, the Russian president addressed the German people directly, drawing a parallel between today and the unification of Germany. Referring to the fact that the USSR supported the “sincere irrepressible striving of the Germans for national unity,” President V.Putin expressed the hope that “the citizens of Germany will also support our desire to restore unity.”I read on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung online forum a comment on a note with a retelling of V. Putin's speech; The note, for all its brevity, became a favorite in terms of the number of views on the Internet, is also pleased with the review (1): “I wish the Crimea happiness, which gave people the opportunity to make a decision about their future by free voting and slipped out of the clutches of the fascists in Kiev. I'm glad for the Russians and for the Crimea, I recognize the reunion! A reminder of the fate of the German people is just ... It goes without saying that in a neutral, independent Ukraine, the East should have a guaranteed special status. ”
Most of the Germans discussing this major international event on Internet forums are rather neutral, but with an understanding of the actions taken by Russia ... The speech of the Russian president, his arguments seemed convincing even to those who admit that he does not sympathize with Moscow: “In this case Putin is right , he acted intelligently, the Russians are proud of him, the government in Kiev is illegal and it is impossible to deal with him. ”
At the same time, someone, on the contrary, calls the speech of V.Putin "Soviet propaganda", not wanting to compare the Crimean precedent with the reunification of Germany. Such a reaction is understandable, especially if one takes into account the position of official Berlin, who called the reunification of Crimea with Russia “annexation”, and the agreement on the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia is a violation of international law. In addition, all respectable German newspapers helpfully explain to fellow citizens the course of their government. Berthold Kohler, one of the editors of the same Frankfurter Allgemeine, who published an article with such “explanations” (2), received quite a few responses on the newspaper’s forum, and the most popular comment was: “It becomes boring, Mr. Kohler! It is not interesting to follow the way you once again bring the same arguments. ” Probably, in order to allay the boredom, the newspaper brought to light the forgotten cliches of the Cold War era. The Germans are afraid of a military threat from the east, comparing the "Crimean crisis" with the Caribbean (3), and - what a trifle! - with 1914 and 1938 year. Russia is credited with “aggressive intentions,” but at least someone in the West listened to Moscow’s repeated calls over the course of two months to stop supporting anti-government speeches on Kiev’s Maidan and not exacerbate the situation? The West remained deaf to these calls. Antje Vollmer, a spokeswoman for Greens, a party that is not suspicious of pro-Russian sympathies, described the situation in an interview with Berliner Zeitung: “The escalation of protests occurred under the influence of rash promises that the West could never keep” (4).
After the announcement of the results of the Crimean referendum, EU Commissioner for Expansion Sh. Füle said in an interview with the German Welt that the European Union, perhaps, should resort to the strongest tool of its policy - expansion. The credulous Ukrainian media deciphered Fule’s vague phrase as if he proposed to consider the question of Ukraine’s accession to the EU. The reaction of the Europeans to this was unambiguous: Kiev was given to understand that the European Commissioner had lost his temper and disavowed his statement (5). According to the chairman of the Social Democrats faction in the European Parliament, Hannes Svoboda (Czech Republic), at present, giving Ukraine prospects for EU membership would be a mistake. Mr. Füle, who hinted at Ukraine’s admission to the EU, spoke about one condition: if the EU wants to seriously change the part of Eastern Europe that has been affected by current events. However, the EU today, apparently, does not know what it really wants. The funds that the European Commission decided to allocate to Ukraine are very modest: the first tranche is 600 million euros and then, over the course of the year, an additional 1 billion euros (6). European Commissioner for Finance and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn recalled that this assistance is strictly conditional and is linked to the fulfillment of the conditions of the IMF. What are these conditions, it is easy to understand from the example of at least Greece (an EU member since 1981): having received the long-awaited new 10 billionth tranche, it continues to reduce public sector employment; for example, the medical staff of hospitals in Greece is already reduced by 10 (!) times (7). Those Ukrainians who still pin their hopes on Western assistance in overcoming the crisis have an idea of the price of this assistance.
Many serious politicians, at least in Germany, now admit that the West has actually provoked the Maidan. So says, for example, Gunter Verheugen, last EU Commissioner for Enlargement. When asked by the correspondent of the radio station Deutschlandfunk, “Is Vladimir Putin doing everything wrong?” The experienced politician replied: “From my point of view, of course, no. It protects the interests that even Americans consider legitimate - the interests of Russian security ”(8). Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl spoke rather harshly about the Eastern policy of the European Union. “In the past years, the West made many blunders here. The reaction to discontent in Ukraine was not too reasonable. In the same measure, there was not enough tact in communicating with our Russian neighbor, especially with President Putin, ”said G. Kohl (9). Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder spoke in the same vein: “I ask myself whether it was right to put such a culturally divided country as Ukraine before an alternative: association with the EU or the Customs Union with Russia.” However, as soon as G. Schroeder said this, a real hurricane rose in the media, up to and including charges of betraying national interests. German greens Rebecca Harms and Daniel Cohn-Bendit even submitted a draft resolution to the European Parliament, which said that deputies “regret” Schroeder’s statements and “emphasize” that the former chancellor “should not make public statements on topics relevant to Of Russia. " So now is the situation with freedom of speech in the free West. Welt called a spade a spade: the Greens demanded that the former Chancellor (10) shut up his mouth. Such an odious resolution in the European Parliament still did not pass.
But journalists who think and write wrongly, “as needed,” are shamelessly squeezed out of the media. A fresh example is the refusal of the Zeit weekly from long-term cooperation with freelance journalist Moritz Hartmann as decided by the chief editor of Zeit Online. Under each report of this journalist, a notice should now be placed: “The author works for the Russia Today application, which is financed by the Russian government. This is not consistent with our principles. We are sorry". This is a weekly supplement, which from 2010 has been released by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which has now abandoned it with reference to a referendum in the Crimea.
And yet, despite the nervous reaction of the media, polls show that the majority of Germans consider severe sanctions against Russia as an inadequate response to the Crimean referendum. 42% prefer a diplomatic solution to the problem, and 27% believe that the West should accept the results of the referendum; Only 20% of respondents (11) agree with the adoption of sanctions.
(1) faz.net Access 19.03.2014.
(2) Putins Jalta / Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 18.03.2014.
(3) Welt, 14.03.14.
(4) „Auch die Grünen scheinen mir sehr geschichtsvergessen“ / Berliner Zeitung, 13.03.2014.
(5) Reuters, 18. März 2014 / reuters.com
(6) EU / Ukraine: Commission proposes a further € 1 billion in macro-financial assistance. Brussels, 19 March 2014.
(7) euronews.com
(8) Gefahr einer Spirale nach unten / Deutschlandfunk, 18.03.2014.
(9) Altkanzler Kohl mahnt zu Besonnenheit / Bild, 12.03.2014.
(10) Florian Eder. Grüne scheitern mit Sprechverbot für Schröder / Welt, 13.03.14.
(11) Reuters, 16. Merz 2014. de.reuters.com
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