Former German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, together with Rear Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach, on a visit to Cyprus in 2019. TOBIAS SCHWARZ (AFP)
A senior officer of the German Navy, Kay-Achim Schönbach, resigned this Saturday after controversial statements about the Ukraine conflict that have caused a political storm in Germany and unleashed a small diplomatic crisis with the former Soviet republic.
The Vice Admiral assured, during a visit to India, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is only demanding respect and that he probably deserves it.
And he added that Ukraine can write off the Crimean peninsula, a territory that Russia annexed through an illegal referendum in 2014. His statement contradicts the Western position according to which the annexation should be revoked.
Schönbach made the remarks at an expert forum in India on Friday and probably did not know he was being recorded.
The video, posted on YouTube, has been widely reported by the German media.
Schönbach's statements, unheard of in a military man of his position, caused the Defense Ministry to distance itself and describe them as "personal opinions".
In the video, the Vice Admiral also describes himself as a “very radical Roman Catholic Christian” and says that, due to his religious beliefs, he is convinced that it is good for Germany to have Christian Russia as a partner against China.
"Even if Putin is an atheist, that doesn't matter," he adds.
In the tripartite government, Schönbach's words sat very badly, according to the weekly
Der Spiegel
, which cites sources from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Immediately it was seen that the video in which he appears making these demonstrations could not remain without consequences,” reports the media.
A spokesman for the German Defense Ministry, consulted by Reuters, assured that the statements "do not reflect, neither in substance nor in form, the official position" of Germany.
Back in Germany, Schönbach published a statement late on Saturday: "I have just asked the Federal Defense Minister to release me from my duties as Navy inspector with immediate effect."
The military acknowledges in the text that "the thoughtless comments" he made in India on security matters affect his position.
“I consider this step [the resignation] necessary to avoid further damaging the Navy, the Bundeswehr [the German Army], but above all the federal republic of Germany,” he adds.
Україна вдячна Німеччині за вже надану підтримку, починаючи з 2014 року, а також за дипломатичні зусилля з врегулювання російсько-українського збройного конфлікту.
Але нинішні заяви Німеччини розчаровують і йдуть врозріз із цією підтримкою і зусиЌ
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) January 22, 2022
In Ukraine the words of the head of the Navy have caused disgust.
They come at a time of high tension, with Russia deploying its troops to the country's borders and Western powers making countless diplomatic efforts to prevent the crisis from escalating into war.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba assured on his Twitter account that “Ukraine is grateful to Germany for the support provided since 2014 and also for its diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
But the latest statements [those of Schönbach] are disappointing and undermine all that effort and support.
The head of the Navy assured at the meeting: “Does Russia really want a small strip of Ukrainian soil?
Do you want to integrate it into the country?
No, that doesn't make sense.
He is probably just pushing because he knows he can, and thus split the EU.
What he really wants is respect, high-level respect.
If you ask me, I'd say it's easy to give him the respect he claims and probably deserves."
He then added that the West needs Russia: "We, Germany, need Russia against China."
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