04-2019: Angela Merkel explains (words by me) why Germans should take defence spending seriously
on.ft.com
on.ft.com
03-2021: Berlin’s mulishness over #Nordstream 2 risks sabotaging a new start in German relations with the US under #Biden
on.ft.com
on.ft.com
07-2021: “Nord Stream 2 is economically unnecessary and has been politically toxic for Germany’s relations with its eastern neighbours … . It distracts from the larger strategic issues that the US and Europe must urgently tackle together.”
ft.com
ft.com
10-2021: “The Kremlin taunts Europeans with their dependence on Russian energy. China doubles down on intimidating Taiwan. It all sends shudders through the global economy, on whose stability the “export champion” Germany depends like few other nations.”
ft.com
ft.com
12-2021: “Vladimir Putin’s Russia has amassed an estimated 100,000 troops near the border of Ukraine. …State-owned Gazprom is not complying with its commitments to fill gas storage facilities in GE, despite tight supplies & sharply rising prices. …1/3
on.ft.com
on.ft.com
“…This is no longer just about Ukraine. …As for Germany, the time when it could plead its history as an excuse to stand aside is long past. Europe’s economic anchor nation is essential to any western effort to deter Putin. … 2/3”
“…sanctions on RU entities, cutting RU out of the Swift electronic payment system, cancelling the NS2 pipeline — would be … costly for Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s new government. But what is the alternative? According to Putin: war in Europe, waged by a nuclear great power. 3/3”
01-2022: “as western capitals ponder whether and how Vladimir Putin might make good on his threat of “military-technical measures” in response to the united allied stance, Europe finds itself in a perfect storm of its own making….” 1/2
on.ft.com
on.ft.com
“…It faces a gas price & supply crisis that makes it vulnerable to pol. blackmail. … Putin taunts the EU for bringing supply volatility on itself. If only GE regulators approved the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Russian gas would again flow abundantly to Europe, Putin suggests.” 3/3
02-16-2022 (6 days before invasion): “Moscow has not given up on subverting Ukraine…the rollback of E. Europe’s democratic transformation, the neutralisation of W. Europe & the departure of the US …. That …is what the SPD, & Scholz, have yet to admit.”
on.ft.com
on.ft.com
None of this is to say that I was, or am, prescient; the facts were available, the trends visible, the conclusions clear. Many other commentators wrote similar or better analyses.
What I *am* saying: we have no excuses for not doing what we need to do, and time is running out.
What I *am* saying: we have no excuses for not doing what we need to do, and time is running out.
And like it or not, Germany’s role in the security of Europe—a Europe under daily attack—remains crucial.
To quote Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow, in February ‘22: “Es ist meine Pflicht und Schuldigkeit”
It’s our damn duty and obligation. — END.
To quote Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow, in February ‘22: “Es ist meine Pflicht und Schuldigkeit”
It’s our damn duty and obligation. — END.
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