Since Angela Merkel left the chancellorship in December 2021, her tracks somewhat lost.
The former chancellor of Germany and undisputed leader of Europe for 16 years has suffered criticism since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The accusations against her focus mainly on her failure to see Vladimir Putin's hegemonic and belligerent goals in time, choosing instead to lure him in with negotiations and concessions. In addition, in order to guarantee successful elections and not to harass the Germans, she avoided inconvenient but necessary reforms of the German model, which once again fell into the role of the "big sick man of Europe".
„For me, power is the ability to shape something. To have a majority, to make decisions that leave a mark together with the people who received their mandates. Always try to build majorities, unite them, find compromises. This is power.", said Angela Merkel in an interview with the Italian publication Corriere della Sera.
„I knew President Putin's intentions very well. He has always expressed them both publicly and in private conversations. I knew many of his aims and I knew that we were not dealing with a friend of Europe. My response was not to no longer have any relationship with Putin, but rather to try to prevent the invasion of Ukraine through talks, sometimes very polemical. It worked for a while. With the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine, the situation has fundamentally changed”, said the former chancellor.
„What for me was the greatest joy in my life – the end of the Cold War, the fall of the wall, the unification of Germany and the unity of Europe – for him it is linked to the greatest misfortune of the 20th century, the end of the Soviet Union. This shows that our views were diametrically opposed. Putin tried to make Russia a great power again. But he failed to do it on an economic level, through prosperity for all. Instead, he tried the methods he had learned in the secret service, the KGB, through military force and Russian nationalism. Thus, the many hopes we had in 1990 that Russia would gradually take the path of democratization were not justified, Merkel continues.
Why didn't you block the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project? in 2015, a year after the annexation of Crimea?
„I wanted to ensure that the German economy could take advantage of the opportunity to have cheap gas. And let's see today what are the consequences for Germany of high energy costs. In addition, for political reasons, I wanted to maintain economic relations with Russia so that this country would also have prosperity"
In the book you say that "deterrence" and "diplomatic actions" they always go together. Do you think that negotiations with Putin on Ukraine are possible in the near future?
„We need dual actions, on the one hand talks and contacts, on the other deterrence. I was and remain convinced of this. In Germany, however, we were unable to build a potential deterrent quickly enough. This depended more on our partner in government, the GSDP, than on my party, the CDU, although I bear the responsibility as chancellor. It is true that we increased defense spending to 2% of GDP, but not enough. Now we have to recover faster. Naturally, nothing should go through Ukraine's head regarding the negotiations. At the same time, however, I believe that the many countries that support Ukraine should decide together with it when a diplomatic solution can be discussed with Russia. Kyiv cannot decide on its own. As I am no longer active in politics, I cannot say when that will happen”.
Write that “Donald Trump was fascinated by Putin”. And also that "the president of the United States sees everything from the point of view of the entrepreneur he was". Do you think Trump's return to the White House poses serious dangers for Germany and Europe?
„For Donald Trump, there are never situations where both partners in an agreement get advantages. For him, either one or the other wins. This is an idea I do not share. I think we've done a lot of deals around the world that are mutually beneficial. I believe in the power of compromise, unlike Trump. The most important thing is to cooperate with Trump, as partners and representatives of a country free from fear and self-confident, defending its own interests, in my case German and European, as clearly as he defends his own”.
Do you see a risk of dividing Europe?
„The risk is always there. It's up to us, everything is in our hands. In my opinion, despite the different starting positions, there are good chances that Europe will find a common line on difficult issues.
Did Trump have anything against you personally?
At a G7 summit in Canada, he threw two Starbust candies on the table and said: “Here, Angela. Don't say I never gave you anything". Donald Trump was obsessed with what he thought were too many German cars in New York. He always said that if he became president, he would impose tariffs so high that they would disappear from the streets of Manhattan. In his eyes, I embodied Germany.