Germany, in Historic Reversal, Abandons Pro-Putin Russia Policy

by Soeren Kern, GATESTONE  •  March 1, 2022 at 5:00 am

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced a paradigm shift in German defense and energy policies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that Germany will substantially increase defense spending and take immediate measures to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. Pictured: Scholz addresses an extraordinary session of the German parliament, on February 27, 2022. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Getty Images)

• The measures represent a complete reversal of Germany’s post-Cold War Russia policy — which focused on pursuing economic ties rather than confrontation with Moscow — and mark a definitive end to the era of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

• “We are living through a watershed era. And that means that the world afterwards will no longer the same as the world before. The core question is whether power is allowed to prevail over the law. Will we allow Putin to turn the clock back to the 19th century and the age of great powers? Or can we muster the strength to keep warmongers like Putin in check. That requires strength of our own. Yes, we fully intend to secure our freedom, our democracy and our prosperity.” — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Bundestag, February 27, 2022.
• The significance of the German U-turn cannot be overstated: Germany will become the biggest spender on defense in Europe.
• In a major policy reversal, the German government has also decided to suspend technical certification of the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea.
• “Olaf Scholz is changing decades of German foreign policy in a single speech. Russia went too far and now Germany is waking up. Incredible.” — Marcel Dirsus, German political scientist.
• “I have to say I don’t recognize Europe as it responds to Putin’s gangsterism against #Ukraine. This is my second tour in Germany and all of a sudden I see the Continent grow a spine. Way to go!” — Andrew Michta, veteran transatlantic security analyst.
• “Watching Scholz in Bundestag today is watching decades of German foreign policy change in a few minutes before your eyes.” — Andrew Gray, politics editor for Politico.
• “Putin knew well why he invested so much in friendly relations. Germany was open to that. But the attack on Ukraine changed everything. Comes certainly as a shock to Putin.” — Ulrich Speck, German foreign policy analyst.
• “It is hard to overestimate how much Putin’s attack on Ukraine changed Germany. Less than a week ago Nord Stream 2 was still alive, delivering lethal weapons to Ukraine taboo & cutting Russia out of Swift out of the question. Putin’s invasion changed Germany. Turning point.” — Michael Knigge, German journalist.
• “Germany basically doing what Donald Trump demanded that they do — to widespread ridicule — for the four years of his Presidency. I know it galls people to hear it, but Trump was right about some very big things.” — John McGuirk, Irish political commentator.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced a paradigm shift in German defense and energy policies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that Germany will substantially increase defense spending and take immediate measures to reduce its energy dependence on Russia.

Scholz has also announced several other important policy reversals: Berlin has halted the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which would double shipments of Russian natural gas to Germany by transporting the gas under the Baltic Sea; it has agreed to authorize the transfer of weapons to Ukraine; and it has agreed to ban Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system.

The measures represent a complete reversal of Germany’s post-Cold War Russia policy — which focused on pursuing economic ties rather than confrontation with Moscow — and mark a definitive end to the era of former Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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