Just a week after the parliamentary elections in Russia, Germans also voted for their future parliament. For Ukraine, Germany’s relationship with Russia is the most interesting aspect of its foreign politics.
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Moscow’s resurgent foreign policy and the undemocratic rule of President Vladimir Putin ended the relatively friendly relations that had been possible between Russia and the West in the 1990s. In the seven years since Russia annexed Crimea and started a war of attrition against Ukraine, the security situation in the transatlantic region has continuously deteriorated. The Kremlin has demonstrated hostility towards the West, crises and security issues have continued to multiply instead of being resolved, and the risk of outright conflict has come close to Cold War peaks. There is an obvious and urgent need to lower tensions, but Moscow prefers to demonstrate its readiness to escalate.
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The French President, Emmanuel Macron, recently gave an interview to Le Grand Continent, a journal published by the Groupe d’études géopolitiques. Macron discusses crises that plagued Europe and the world in 2020, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and terrorism, as well as fundamental long-term transitional processes and challenges such as climate change, digital transformation and various intra- and inter-state inequalities.
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On 7 September, German doctors treating Alexei Navalny in the Charité hospital in Berlin announced that he had been brought out of an induced coma and taken off mechanical ventilation, emergency treatments he had received in response to his poisoning. Navalny’s condition has improved. He responds to verbal stimuli, but it is too early to assess whether there will be any long-term effects on his health.
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On 20 August, prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalnyi collapsed on board a commercial flight, causing it to make an emergency landing in Omsk. Navalnyi’s condition had changed suddenly and violently during the flight and the aircraft captain’s swift decision probably saved his life. His family, friends and supporters immediately—and with good reason—suspected that he had been poisoned.
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The ongoing discussion about Germany’s role in NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements is unfortunate as it raises questions about the country’s commitment to European security and defence.
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Six years after Russia annexed Crimea, a number of articulate and influential people in the West have become firmly convinced that a way out of the impasse must be found.
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One should not interpret recent media reports to the effect that the Nord Stream 2 project is in peril. The German energy regulator the Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) it is reported may not grant Nord Stream 2 a derogation from EU energy liberalisation regime, contained in the gas directive 2009. Such a failure to obtain a derogation from the BNetzA, even if that is its final decision, is likely to prove far from fatal to Nord Stream 2.
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In 2019, the European Union’s Russia policy was under a lot of pressure. The rapidly changing balance of power in global politics calls for Europe to reconsider its position and act more strategically. However, the EU member states do not agree on what this would mean for EU-Russian relations.
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This analysis calls for European governments to pay greater attention to the resilience of their societies, starting with the integration of minorities. It is also important to continue work to increase awareness of Russian influence.
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