Tag: Manuela Schwesig
12 Germans who got played by Putin – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
BERLIN — Russia’s war against Ukraine has thrust Germany’s establishment into the throes of a tortured process of introspection, self-doubt and recrimination.
After years of lecturing the West that a bit of Ostpolitik was all that was needed to keep Russia in check, Germany’s political, media and academic elites are now obsessing over a new question: How could we have been so wrong?
Rarely has a country’s confidence about itself and its place
How Germany Inc. played Russian roulette — and lost – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
The country’s complicated commercial ties to
Russia involve a lot more than just natural gas.
Illustration by Ricardo Tomás for POLITICO
BERLIN — Until just before the bombs began to fall, it was the most coveted ticket on corporate Germany’s calendar: tea with Vladimir Putin.
The annual gathering — at the president’s Sochi residence or in the Kremlin — offered Germany’s blue-chip CEOs a rare opportunity to speak to the Russian leader, listen