Lammert expects Merkel to explain her policy towards Russia
“Merkel would also be an interesting witness in such a commission of inquiry”
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has admitted errors in his Russian policy. For Jan Fleischhauer, however, this is not enough. He would like Steinmeier to explain himself to a commission of inquiry. He would also like to see Angela Merkel there as a witness.
Angela Merkel has rejected an eastward expansion of NATO to include Ukraine and Georgia and advocated the construction of Nord Stream 2. Many voices are calling for an explanation and a reassessment of their Russian policy – including the former President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert.
DFormer Bundestag President Norbert Lammert expects former Chancellor Angela Merkel to explain her policy towards Russia and Ukraine. The chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation told the “taz” that your previous statement about the rejection of Ukraine and Georgia’s NATO membership in 2008 was “of course not enough”. There is “a reasonable expectation” that the former Chancellor will consider this.
“When she left office, she said she wouldn’t comment for six months,” Lammert said. “I don’t think she keeps an eternal vow of silence now.” It would therefore also grossly underestimate the seriousness of Merkel’s understanding of politics if she were to be accused of not caring about the issue or not letting it get to her.
In early April, Merkel dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism of his Russian policy. In the written statement, she defended her decision in 2008 to reject Ukraine’s application for NATO membership.
There are cross-party calls in the Bundestag to review Germany’s Russian policy. A commission of inquiry is under discussion. At the end of April, the former CDU general secretary, Ruprecht Polenz, proposed to include Russian politics since reunification.
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