Lithuania criticizes Merkel for comments seen as justifying Putin
Angela Merkel (photo: Getty Images)
Members of the Lithuanian Seimas responded to the remarks of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who linked the opposition of Poland and the Baltic states to direct contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his decision to invade Ukraine in 2022, LRT reports.
What preceded it
In recent days, Merkel stated that in 2021, she, along with Emmanuel Macron, intended to organize negotiations between the European Union and Putin. However, at that time, the Baltic countries and Poland were reportedly against this.
"In any case, it didn't happen. Then I left office, and that's when Putin's aggression began," said Merkel.
Lithuania's reaction
The Chairman of the Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs, Social Democrat Remigijus Motuzas, stated that Merkel's remarks cannot be considered the official position of the German government. According to him, relations between Europe and Russia had been tense for a long time before 2021.
"Crimea was occupied in 2014, and in fact, from 2015 until the war in Ukraine in 2022, relations with Russia were already tense… The Minsk agreements were not signed; it was Russia that disrupted them, blocked them, and refused to agree to certain provisions," said the deputy.
However, he agreed that for a long time, the positions of the Western European states and the Eastern EU member states regarding Russia differed.
"Some European Union countries probably still hoped that Russia would come to its senses and did not expect this full-scale invasion. They still hoped, and from this one can probably conclude that as early as 2015, that same Germany signed an agreement with Russia on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline," said Motuzas.
Conservative Žygimantas Pavilionis stated that Merkel is appeasing Putin.
"Merkel represents a long-standing tradition of appeasing Putin, thanks to which Russian tanks are now present in both Georgia and Ukraine. And if this line continued today, I fear they (Russian tanks – ed.) would be somewhere on the road to Berlin and on our territory," he said.
He also links Merkel's statements to Germany's domestic politics. According to him, it is not easy for the current German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to pursue a new foreign policy — his ratings have dropped, and Merkel is capitalizing on this situation.
"I think she is now trying to raise a wave of these Russia-lovers, the admirers of Putin, against Merz," he said.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel knew about Russian President Vladimir Putin's intention to blackmail Europe over gas. This is evidenced by declassified documents regarding the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In particular, the documents included a note from a German Ministry of Economy official dated August 2021.
