BBC
Chancellor Angela Merkel gave a rare interview with the BBC’s Katia Adler.
Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was once said to be the most powerful woman in the world. Here she speaks to the BBC’s Katya Adler about Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat, and dealing with Donald Trump.
Chancellor Angela Merkel led Germany for 16 years. She was there during the financial crisis, the 2015 immigration crisis, and, importantly, Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine.
Was she too soft on Moscow? Is it too late to help Kiev? If she hadn’t blocked Ukraine from joining NATO in 2008, would there have been a war there by now?
On Monday, the defense ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Poland and Italy will meet to discuss the deteriorating situation on the Ukraine front.
However, in an interview with the BBC in Berlin, Merkel staunchly defended her tenure in office.
She says she believes that if Kiev had started on its path to NATO membership in 2008, the war in Ukraine would have started sooner and perhaps been much worse.
“A military conflict would have happened much earlier. It was perfectly clear to me that President Putin was not going to sit by and watch Ukraine join NATO.
“And at that time, Ukraine as a country would not have been as prepared as it was in February 2022.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy opposes this.
He said Merkel’s NATO decision, supported by then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was a clear “miscalculation” that emboldened Russia.
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Chancellor Merkel engaged in several diplomatic efforts but was unable to achieve lasting peace.
In her rare interview since retiring from politics three years ago, Merkel expressed concern about President Vladimir Putin’s renewed threat to use nuclear weapons.
Both leaders have gotten to know each other well over 20 years.
“Everything possible must be done to prevent the use of nuclear weapons,” says the former German chancellor.
“Thankfully, China also spoke about this a while ago. We must not be paralyzed by fear, but Russia is the largest nuclear power, or one of the two largest nuclear powers in the world along with the United States. We must also acknowledge that.
“The possibilities are terrifying.”
Despite enjoying high approval ratings for most of her tenure, Merkel now finds herself on the defensive.
She just published her memoir, Freedom. And the timing is interesting.
She said she did everything in her power to ensure peaceful means of cooperation with Russia.
In fact, just a few months after leaving office, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
This has prompted an overhaul of Europe’s energy policy, diplomacy with Russia, and the immigration policy that had become the norm under Merkel.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen as one of the few Western leaders able to influence Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At the helm of Europe’s largest economy, she was the de facto leader of Europe, the “boss of the European Union,” as former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi put it.
“Remember when[former US Secretary of State]Henry Kissinger said, ‘What’s a European phone number?'” he says. “My answer was obviously Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile number.”
He added that it is important to remember the norms of the time when judging Merkel’s legacy in Russia and other areas.
“You can’t attack Angela because of her ties to Russia,” he says.
“In 2005 and 2006,[they were]not just the goal of Chancellor Angela Merkel, but the goal of all of Europe.”
Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany and its large, energy-intensive industries have become dependent on Moscow. Germany has built two gas pipelines that connect directly to Russia.
President Zelenskiy said the cheap gas is a geopolitical tool of the Kremlin.
Chancellor Angela Merkel told the BBC there were two motivations for the pipeline. One is for Germany’s business interests, the other is to maintain peaceful relations with Russia.
Eastern European EU and NATO member states strongly opposed her.
Polish lawmaker Radosław Fogiel said German gas funds filled Russia’s military budget, which was used to finance the invasion of Ukraine.
Merkel claims she tried to use diplomacy and negotiations to curb Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, but admits she ultimately failed.
And German industry has been disproportionately hit by Russian energy sanctions. Forced to look for other suppliers, the country is now buying expensive LNG. Companies say they are being held back by costs.
Merkel said a new era in European-Russian relations had begun “unfortunately” following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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US President Donald Trump strongly criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel over the construction of two gas pipelines with Russia.
The 70-year-old now realizes she must protect her legacy in other areas as well.
The 2015 migration crisis, in which she famously opened Germany’s doors to more than a million asylum seekers, was perhaps the defining moment of her tenure.
He was hated by some and admired by others.
US President Barack Obama praised her as a courageous and moral leader.
But critics accused her of breathing life into the then-almost redundant far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD).
It is currently comfortably in second place in German opinion polls ahead of the general election early next year.
The AfD’s main political rallying cry is a strong anti-immigrant message.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has acknowledged that the AfD has brought significant benefits, but has not apologized for her political decisions.
After trying to impose immigration quotas across EU member states, Merkel took responsibility for suggestions that her 2015 policy helped fuel anti-immigration and far-right parties in other countries, including the Netherlands, Poland and France. He said he couldn’t ask. All of Europe.
The only way to fight the far right, she says, is to stop illegal immigration.
She is calling on European leaders to increase investment in African countries to improve their living standards and reduce the number of people leaving their homes.
But the government claims it has little cash to spare as Europe’s economy slumps and voters worry about the cost of living.
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Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Germany took in more than 1 million refugees in 2015, at the height of the Syrian war.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticized her country and its economy over Russia’s energy purchases, or when she accused southern EU countries of squeezing her with austerity measures to bail out German banks and companies during the eurozone crisis. It appeared that he was thinking of his own interests as his top priority.
But even at home in Germany, she is now being accused of merely “coping” with one crisis after another, and failing to make far-reaching and potentially painful reforms to secure the future of her country and the EU.
Germany is now labeled by some as the “sick man of Europe”.
Once an export powerhouse on the world stage, its economy is on the brink of recession.
Voters complain that she prioritized maintaining a balanced budget and failed to invest in roads, rail and digitalisation.
Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has become dependent not only on Russia for energy but also on China and the United States for trade. These decisions did not stand the test of time.
President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on imported goods when he returns to the White House in January.
Chancellor Merkel has some thoughts for European leaders nervous in the face of Trump 2.0.
His first term was marked by anger at Europe, especially Germany, over low defense spending and trade deficits. Dissatisfaction with Europe has not changed.
What are Chancellor Merkel’s tips for dealing with him?
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Trump accused other NATO countries of not meeting their defense goals and threatened to impose tariffs on EU exports, especially German cars.
“It’s really important to know what your priorities are, to be clear about them, and to not be afraid, because Donald Trump is a very outspoken person,” she says.
“He expresses his thoughts very clearly, and when you do that, there’s a certain respect for each other. That was my experience anyway.”
But European leaders facing the United States, China and Russia are anxious, perhaps more so than they were under Angela Merkel.
The economy is in decline, voters are dissatisfied, and traditional politics is under pressure from the far right and far left.
China and Russia are more bullish, but the West is weaker on the world stage.
There are ongoing wars in the Middle East and Europe, and Donald Trump doesn’t seem very interested in strengthening Europe’s security.
Perhaps that’s why Chancellor Angela Merkel these days is so happy to be asked for advice by world leaders she knows well.
But when asked if she misses that kind of power and politics, her immediate response is: “No, not at all.”
In the UK, you can watch Katia Adler’s full interview with Chancellor Angela Merkel on BBC Two and iPlayer from 7pm AEST.
