Putin supporter threatens Germany with expropriations – and draws Nazi parallels: “Remember how that ended”
Created: 05/01/2023 14:58
By: Florian Naumann
Expropriating Russian oligarchs - a possible source of money for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
But Russia is now explicitly threatening Germany.
Moscow – Ukraine will need gigantic funds to rebuild.
A possible source of money: confiscated Russian assets.
A Russian parliamentarian who is loyal to Putin has now threatened the Federal Republic with expropriations if this happens.
"Once this decision is made, we have the right to equal actions in relation to the property of Germany and other states," Duma chief Vyacheslav Volodin of Vladimir Putin's United Russia party wrote in his Telegram on Thursday (January 5). Channel.
Before the start of the Ukraine war, German companies were among the largest direct investors in Russia.
Russia threatens Germany: Duma chief draws amazing Nazi parallels
Volodin laid the blame for the outbreak of war on Germany and France – with an argument that has meanwhile been extensively exploited.
The Minsk Agreement, which at least partially ended the fighting in eastern Ukraine in 2015, was only signed by then Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and then French President François Hollande in order to deceive Russia and the international community.
The head of the Russian State Duma claimed that the Europeans never intended to fulfill the agreement, as had previously been done by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Vyacheslav Volodin (right) with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
(Archive image) © Alexei Druzhinin/Itar-Tass/www.imago-images.de
In an interview with Die
Zeit
, Merkel literally said: "And the 2014 Minsk Agreement was an attempt to give Ukraine time.
She also used this time to get stronger, as you can see today."
Russia has now publicly interpreted this statement several times as if Germany and France had armed Ukraine for a deliberately planned war.
Volodin warned the German government against breaking international law and thus setting a precedent - very similar to what observers attest to in Russia with the attack on Ukraine.
At the same time, he drew supposed parallels to the Nazi era, which were hardly concealed.
Seizing one's possessions could eventually "possess anyone who sees fit," Volodin said, according to state agency Tass.
Looking at its own history, Germany should remember “how attempts to violate foreign property rights ended”.
In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this is a remarkable allegation.
Ukraine War: Expropriate Russian Oligarchs?
Putin politician threatens Germany
The German government “decided to pass on to our country the problems created by its predecessors,” he wrote.
In addition, it is planned to appropriate Russian property for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
The 58-year-old threatened that this would result in appropriate countermeasures in Russia.
After many Western companies stopped operating in Russia due to the outbreak of war, the Russian government allowed Western foreigners to sell their property only with special permits.
In Germany, the possibility of confiscating Russian property for the reconstruction of Ukraine has been discussed for a long time.
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) has openly advocated expropriating Russian oligarchs as well.
A well-known representative in Germany is Kremlin friend Alischer Usmanow.
However, Buschmann said it had to be proven in court that the people concerned had been involved in war crimes or illegal warfare.
In any case, there are also very practical problems with such expropriation plans.
(
dpa/fn
)
