American anger at Berlin

A few days after Russia attacked Ukraine (on February 24, 2022), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made a bold speech in parliament. He said that the Russian aggression against Ukraine marks "an epochal change in the history of our continent".

In German, the change of eras is described in one word: "Zeitenwende". In December of the year just behind this word was chosen as "word of the year" by the Association for the German Language. The message of Olaf Scholz's speech was this: nothing will be as it was, for the first time since World War II Germany will arm another country (Ukraine), 100 billion euros will be allocated to strengthen the army (Bundeswehr ).

Almost a year after the start of the aggression, many things have remained the same. Germany does not emerge as a leading power in Europe, but rather holds back. The reform of the army has not really started. The Minister of Defense, Christine Lambrecht, has resigned after a series of mistakes and scandals and after it became clear that her will to run the Ministry of Defense is not that great.

The truth is that Berlin is supplying Ukraine with weapons, but only after increasing pressure from international partners. In December, it was announced that a senior official of the German secret service (BND) had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Russia.

Currently, Germany is blocking the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. According to the relevant laws, Leopard tanks, which are also in the service of the Polish army, the government in Warsaw does not dare to hand over to Ukraine without Germany's permission. A few months ago German politicians were irritated by Switzerland's (controversial) decision not to allow Swiss ammunition sold in Germany to be given to Ukraine. The Swiss referred to their law on war material, and some German politicians called for no more ammunition and weapons to be bought from Switzerland in the future. A few weeks later, Germany blocking the supply of tanks to Ukraine is behaving like Switzerland in the case of ammunition. Switzerland can hide behind neutrality, Germany is hiding behind the platitude that Berlin will do what its Western partners do, but no more.

Chancellor Scholz has announced that he may consider supplying Ukraine with Leopoard tanks if the US also gives Ukraine Abrams tanks. This stipulation has angered the Americans. They say that Abrams cannot be delivered to Ukraine due to logistical problems. Last Thursday, the American Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, was in Berlin. According to the information of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" newspaper, Austin met with Wolfgang Schmidt, who is the minister for coordination of cooperation between ministries in the chancellor's headquarters. Between Austin and Schmidt there was a fierce verbal clash, reports the German newspaper. Then in the German Chancellor's office, Jake Sullivan, who is President Biden's national security advisor, intervened from Washington. "Süddeutsche Zeitung" sources say that Jake Sullivan's conversation with Jens Plötner, Chancellor Scholz's foreign policy adviser, was extremely tense.

It's not just the Americans who are obsessed with Germany. The foreign ministers of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) issued a joint statement in which they emphasized that Germany has a special responsibility. On the other hand, Poland has threatened to supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks even without Germany's permission. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said "we would not prevent" Poland from supplying Ukraine with German tanks. But what does this mean? Baerbock belongs to the Green Party, which follows a tougher course towards Russia, unlike Chancellor Scholz, who comes from the Social Democratic Party.

Especially a part of the social democrats have not yet understood the change of eras, although the chancellor warned about this with his speech at the end of February 2022. Politicians of the two big German parties (social democrats and christian democrats) have been deeply connected to toxic interests Russian. Some have accepted the role of lobbyists, some have excelled at opportunism. This chapter of German politics is pretty dark and so far only Vice Chancellor (Green) Robert Habeck has had the courage to admit that German policy towards Russia in recent years has been harmful - for Germany and Europe. The politician responsible for this policy, Angela Merkel, continues to defend her course. Although history has already given the negative verdict.