Steinmeier receives approval for admitting mistakes
Created: 04/05/2022, 18:37
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier comments on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
Even politicians who are less politically close to him respect the self-criticism of the Federal President for dealing with Russia.
Steinmeier will express himself again on Tuesday.
Berlin - Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has received encouragement from the opposition for his admission of mistakes in Russia policy and in the assessment of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin.
He wanted to "pay great respect" to the Federal President for this, said the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz on Tuesday in Berlin.
"It is anything but natural for an incumbent head of state to say something like that."
The leader of the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Amira Mohamed Ali, emphasized that many experts, including the left, did not foresee the Russian war against Ukraine.
She would therefore not demand personal consequences from Steinmeier - "not at all," said Ali, with a view to calls for his resignation that were circulating on Twitter.
Steinmeier: "We have a lot to think about"
Steinmeier said on Monday, also with a view to his time as foreign minister from 2005 to 2009 and 2013 to 2017, that responsibility for the Ukraine war lay with Putin.
"But that doesn't mean that we don't have to reconsider some things where we made mistakes." Steinmeier was specific: "My sticking to Nord Stream 2 was clearly a mistake.
We clung to bridges that Russia no longer believed in and that our partners warned us about.” Steinmeier also said: “We failed in building a common European house that included Russia.”
In the ZDF "Morgenmagazin" he repeated this assessment on Tuesday.
"It's a bitter record we're facing," he said.
"And part of this bitter balance sheet is the misjudgment that we, and I too, thought that even a Putin of the year 2022 would ultimately not accept the country's total political, economic, moral ruin for his imperial dreams or his imperial madness .”
Merz left open whether former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), who ruled Germany for 16 years, should show similar self-criticism.
“I would like to leave it up to others who are no longer politically responsible to speak or not to speak.
It's not my job to judge, evaluate or even demand this."
Melnyk calls self-criticism the “first step”
The Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk called the self-critical statements of the Federal President only a "first step".
On Deutschlandfunk he said: "It is important for us that actions now follow." These have been missing so far.
He would like Steinmeier "not only to show this remorse now, but also to demand that the federal government, as head of state, learn the lessons from the Bucha massacre, from other atrocities that we are now experiencing day and night in Ukraine “.
In concrete terms, this means, among other things, stricter sanctions and an energy embargo.
Melnyk also demanded further deliveries of weapons.
more on the subject
Melnyk: Steinmeier's remorse must be followed by deeds
Steinmeier admits mistakes in Russia policy
Left-wing politician Bartsch: "Everything is put to the test"
CSU regional group chief Alexander Dobrindt said it was about securing peace in Europe - through trade and mutual creation of prosperity.
Putin has now unilaterally destroyed that.
"But at the time these decisions were not fundamentally wrong," emphasized the CSU politician.
"I stand by the fact that this is the right political model." dpa