Angela Merkel is revisiting her August remarks, which sparked enormous outrage in Poland and the Baltic states. After she suggested in an interview for the German newspaper Bild that Poland and the Baltic states were “to blame” for the deterioration of Europe’s relations with Russia, the former chancellor – only now – has begun to explain herself.
“This is an absolutely false interpretation”
In an interview for the German broadcaster Phoenix, the former chancellor attempted to walk back the controversial claims that have been criticized by experts and politicians for months:
“This is an absolutely false interpretation of what I said,” Merkel stated, adding that the whole matter is “something that could be described as fake news”. Everything began after an interview Merkel gave to the Hungarian channel Partizan. It was on the basis of that conversation that the German tabloid Bild suggested that the former chancellor “blamed Poland and the Baltic states for breaking diplomatic relations between Russia and the EU”. Her attempt at clarification is appearing surprisingly only now, following months of growing criticism in Poland and other countries. Merkel has been a symbol of Germany’s policy of “economic friendship” with Russia, which resulted in Europe’s dependence on resources controlled by Putin. This is why admonitions coming from this particular German politician provoke exceptional distaste.
The former chancellor claims that what she meant was her 2021 proposal for a “new opening” in relations with Russia, which Poland opposed, but – as she emphasizes – this has nothing to do with responsibility for Russia’s later attack.
“None of us was able to prevent this war. That is the situation,” Merkel said.