“Extremely unfortunate slip of the tongue”
Moscow reacts angrily to Baerbock comment – Federal government emphasizes: “We are not a war party”
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) speaks in the Council of Europe of a “war against Russia”
© Jean-Francois Badias / DPA
A comment by Foreign Minister Baerbock about a “war against Russia” has caused outrage in Moscow. Now the federal government wants to calm things down and affirms: Germany is not a party to the war.
After a controversial statement by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the federal government has emphasized that Germany is not a party to the war in Ukraine. “NATO and Germany are not warring parties in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann on Friday in Berlin. “We support Ukraine, but we are not a party to the war.”
Baerbock (Greens) called on Tuesday at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg for the cohesion of the western allies with the following words: “We are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.”
The Russian state media gratefully took up this statement as a central key phrase for war propaganda – as proof that Germany and the other EU countries are direct conflict parties in Ukraine and are fighting against Russia.
Moscow demands clarification after “war against Russia” comment
In the longer discussion in which the statement was made, it was about underlining that the EU, the G7 countries and NATO are united against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office said on Friday in Berlin. “Russian propaganda keeps taking statements, sentences, attitudes, positions of the federal government, our partners, and twisting them in such a way that it serves their purpose. In my opinion, it makes no sense to go into that here now,” said the spokesman. “Whoever is escalating here is Russia.” In the sense of international law, Germany is not a party to a conflict. “In this context, the Foreign Minister must be understood,” said the spokesman.
The German embassy in Moscow also supported this position: “Supporting Ukraine with material to exercise its individual right of self-defense against Russia’s illegal war of aggression, which is enshrined in the UN Charter, does not make Germany a party to the conflict.”
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had demanded a statement from the German ambassador in Moscow on “contradictory” statements from Berlin on Friday. On the one hand, Germany declares that it is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine. On the other hand, Baerbock says that the countries of Europe are at war with Russia. “Do you understand what you’re talking about?” Zakharova wrote on the Telegram news channel.
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Criticism of Baerbock also from the opposition
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber said: “Annalena Baerbock is a massive security risk for our country.” Anyone who talks about German participation in the war is talking Germany into a war. AfD co-boss Tino Chrupalla called for Baerbock’s dismissal. “The Federal Foreign Minister is jeopardizing Germany’s existence with her unprofessional and cheeky behavior,” he said, according to a statement. There was also harsh criticism of Baerbock and her statements on social networks.
On Wednesday evening on ZDF, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) answered the question of whether Germany and its allies were not taking part in the war with the tank deliveries that had now been decided: “No, absolutely not.” He added: “There must be no war between Russia and NATO.”
After the promise to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, Germany is increasingly criticized in Russia for using heavy weapons against Russian soldiers for the first time since World War II. The security expert Claudia Major from the Science and Politics Foundation spoke on Friday im ZDF “Morgenmagazin” by an “extremely unfortunate slip of the tongue” by Baerbock, who is now being exploited by Russian state propaganda.