German Press: What is the reason for Germany’s ‘turn’ to the Ukrainian?

Berlin is sending armor and other heavy weapons to Ukraine, despite recent commitments to the contrary. The German press is looking for an explanation.

“Late turn” is the title of her article Süddeutsche Zeitung “The example of Berlin will be followed by many in Europe, who were waiting to see what attitude the leading EU country would take. Germany can not hide in Europe, while many European countries are looking for cover behind Germany. That’s why Ukraine’s pressure on the federal government was so great that what is important is that decisions be taken within the Alliance, that the West show determination to step up its deterrent capability and thus bring about a shift in Not surprisingly, along with the decision to send armaments, the outlook on the war is changing.Three months after the hostilities began, the assessment of the success of the Russian offensive is easier and leads the US to a turning point in strategy, but also in rhetorical confrontation, one can now imagine a defeat of the Russian armed forces. Ani troops could intercept Russian units at least in the positions they held before the invasion. The sanctions pay off, Moscow will not be able to withstand the pressure for long and will not be able to maintain its war machine. “For all these reasons, Washington is mobilizing all its forces in Europe and increasingly identifying itself with its role as a warring party.”

Is the West now betting not only on Ukraine’s defense, but also on a Russian military defeat? This is what the left-wing newspaper estimates Taxation (TAZ)“Militarily, Ukraine is not as inferior to Russia as one expected at the beginning of the war. With equipment from the West, it could possibly stop the Russian attack to such an extent that the Russian leadership shows a willingness to negotiate effectively, without The question of a possible escalation, if the Russians want to take revenge for the shipment of weapons from the West, but it is rather unlikely that a German Gepard will cross the Russian red line leading to the threshold. nuclear war, when it has been preceded by many other armored missions by NATO member states “.

Germany’s new geopolitical role?

The news network N-TV considers that the “turn” on the issue of Ukraine may prescribe a change in the general orientation of Berlin: “Like all its predecessors after the Reunification, the federal government strategically places the country between the US and Russia. It is militarily protected by NATO, Russia’s cheap raw materials are politically influential in both the West and the East, and much of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is finding it difficult to fully integrate Germany into Russia’s opposition camp, and this is partly due to the fact that After Putin, Germany will have to turn to Russia again for raw materials, which explains the phrase “Putin’s war” so often used by (Chancellor) Soltz. war and rapprochement with Moscow in the post-Putin era – either under pressure from government and NATO partners, or out of awareness of military and political developments “.

H Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) speaks of a “course correction” by Chancellor Soltz in the Ukrainian, which was “necessary”. This is because, according to the Frankfurt newspaper, “Putin has destroyed the peaceful coexistence in post-Cold War Europe, in which German foreign policy has been invested for a long time. Historians will be called upon to whether Russia’s imperialist claims are in line with a peaceful order in Europe is a rhetorical question at the moment. he himself had previously demanded that Russian hegemony be established throughout eastern Europe. ”

Two meters and two weights?

The electronic edition of the newspaper Die Zeit hosts an opinion article by Rosa Burts, a sociologist at the Center on Social Movement Studies in Florence, who accuses the West of applying “two measures and two weights” when it condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but not the Turkish aggression against the Kurds. Among other things, we read: “While Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has been swiftly condemned and sanctioned, Turkish aggression against the Kurds has been tolerated for decades by the same ‘guardians of Western values’. The federal government meets regularly stresses the importance of the German-Turkish partnership, noting that Turkey is an important mediator now that Russia is waging war ‘against us’. escape routes from their besieged cities or from Turkish bombs, while the border is open to Ukrainian refugees – and rightly so – the Kurds who take refuge or are trapped at the Polish border and Belarus, or drown in the Mediterranean, or are not granted asylum in Germany and are deported. These are two meters and two weights. “It is very difficult to tolerate such a thing.”

Giannis Papadimitriou

SOURCE: Deutsche Welle