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History judges politicians often not according to their merits, but according to the needs of the latter.
Merkel hadn’t imagined that one day she would be blamed by her own people to this point.
I took a look and it was simply: It is extremely heinous and full of evil. Failure to kill will not be enough to calm the people's anger.
It is not the Russians who blame her, nor the Chinese who have a half-money relationship, they are all Westerners, especially Eastern Europeans.
What crime has Merkel committed?
In the eyes of some Westerners, this former German prime minister has pushed Europe into the abyss, or is the culprit of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
For example, I saw someone scolding: "Under Merkel's leadership, the entire EU relies on Russian oil and gas. This is amazingly shameless. This lady from Stasi is still loyal to herself."
Also,"As long as Merkel is chancellor, she has always served Russia's national interests. She has caused all major crises in Europe. No wonder she speaks Russian so well!"
Netizens judge the case and the death penalty starts.
Unfortunately, Merkel applies this rule.
What makes people even more sad is that when she left, the Internet was still full of regrets and praises, thanking her for leading Germany and Europe through crises one after another. A few years later, her reputation fell like a cliff, and she became the first person in Europe to commit a major and evil crime.
Historical evaluation is like tide, between rising and falling, depicting the truth of the present rather than the past.
The recent turmoil, derived fromMerkel was interviewed by Hungarian Guerrilla newspaper a few days ago.
In the interview, Merkel reflected that the three Baltic states (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia) and Poland should be partially responsible for the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Merkel said: "In June 2021, I felt that Putin no longer took the Minsk Agreement seriously, so I wanted to establish a new format that would allow us to talk directly to Putin in the name of the EU."
Following the Ukrainian "color revolution", the Donbass war broke out in Russia; under the coordination of Germany and France, Russia eventually reached the Minsk agreement, and the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.
Merkel said at the European Council meeting in June 2021, she and French President Macron proposed to negotiate directly with Putin to deal with Russia’s military cluster near the Ukrainian border.
But “not everyone supports this initiative, especially the Baltic states, and Poland opposes it too,” Merkel said, “these countries are concerned,” “we will not develop a common policy towards Russia ... anyway (conversation with Putin) did not happen.”
She also suggested that the new coronavirus was also one of the reasons Putin decided to launch a military assault.Because the blockade means that it is impossible to negotiate face-to-face between the EU and Putin, "if you can't meet, if you can't face-to-face discuss the differences, you can't find a new compromise."
What does that mean?
Merkel's meaning is also very clear.
1. She saw the crisis at that time and wanted to take diplomatic action to prevent the war from breaking out.
But her diplomatic efforts in direct dialogue with Putin were hindered by the three Baltic states and Poland.
3. These four countries have actually kidnapped the EU's policies, and the EU has lost its diplomatic room for manoeuvre.
4. In the end, Merkel stepped down, the dialogue with Putin failed, and the war broke out.
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Merkel was reflecting, but after listening to it, the four Eastern European countries immediately flew into a rage.
Estonia Foreign Minister Zakhna immediately criticized Russia for bearing full responsibility for the Russia-Ukraine conflict."The only motive for Russia to launch the Russia-Ukraine conflict was its refusal to accept the fact of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and its never-ending 'imperialist ambitions'. Russia should be responsible for this 'aggression."
Former Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said: “Merkel has proven through her reckless interview that she is one of the most destructive German politicians for Europe in the last century.”
Former Prime Minister Kalins said that many countries did not really understand Russia at the time, "including Germany and Merkel herself," "I have always told her that I can't deal with Putin in 'good will', but she thinks the views of the Baltic countries are wrong.
Their opinions are also very clear: They have been warning Merkel not to get too close to Russia, but Merkel didn't listen. In the end, she let Russia push its luck and do whatever it wanted.
In the eyes of critics, the current Merkel, accusing the four Eastern European countries, is entirely removing responsibility and knocking back.
Why did Merkel say this?
It must be seen that she went to Hungary for media interviews to promote her memoir, Freedom.
Of course, this is also a response to external criticism of her. This kind of criticism is becoming more and more fierce now, and everyone has seen the fierce words in it.
Oh, and also in this book, she also criticizes Putin. In 2007, she came to see her with a black labrador, knowing she was afraid of dogs.
But Putin immediately responded that he didn't know that Merkel was afraid of dogs, and thought that Germans all liked dogs, so, "Angela (Merkel), please forgive me."
Getting back to the topic. Merkel is indeed reflecting on the cause and effect of this war, and how it came to this point.
I see that although Merkel is overwhelmingly cursed on the Internet now, it is not without a rational voice.
Serbian President Vucic said,"It is interesting for Ms. Merkel to say these words at this time. Because of this, I must take it seriously now... If she continues to serve as (German) chancellor, I believe there will be no conflict between Russia and Ukraine."
Vucic also said,"This is my opinion because she has always been very clear about what the cost of war is, what the cost of conflict is, and she will always persist in solving these issues." It also reveals the complexity of the problem and not always 100% responsibility."
What does that mean?
A single slap doesn't make a sound.
If Merkel were here, the Russia-Ukraine conflict would not have broken out.
It's just history that can never be assumed.
Alas, international politics is sometimes like a well-choreographed drama. Small roles can often incite the big pattern, but the exit of key roles makes the whole drama eventually get out of control.
(3)
Finally what do you think?
Let's make three superficial points.
First, how difficult it is for a politician to retire unscathed.
Even Merkel, even if she thinks she is not wrong, in current Western public opinion, her reputation has been discredited.
Some radicals even accuse her of appeasing Putin and making Europe dependent on Russia. She is the biggest sinner in the Russia-Ukraine conflict!
When the wall fell, everyone pushed it, and when the drum was broken, thousands of people beat it.
The characteristics of social media have amplified this fierce criticism to the point that Merkel is a little cold, and the public opinion is killing people!
But looking around Europe, how many people are more prominent and more visionary than Merkel?
Alas, in this absurd world, who cares about what is right after death? The whole village heard of Cai Zhonglang.
In the frenzy of public opinion, the truth often becomes the first person to drown.
Second, poor Europe really needs to reflect calmly.
For historical reasons, the three Baltic states and Poland have been very vigilant and even hostile to Russia, which can be understood.
But poor Europe, eventually kidnapped by individual nations, is unable to take reasonable measures to prevent war from happening, even knowing where the problem is.
Is this only possible in the Russian conflict?
I couldn't help but think of Han Feizi's famous saying: Those who are small but not humble, who are less powerful but not afraid of strength, who are unreasonable and insult their neighbors, and who are greedy and clumsy can die.
Of course, Han Feizi's words have a specific historical background. In modern society, all countries, large countries and small countries are equal.
The hegemony of some big countries really makes people shake their heads, but where is the prudence of small countries?
Geopolitics is like a maze without exits. On the chessboard of the game between major powers, small countries are often both chess pieces and bets.
Third, there are some words that Merkel may not have said thoroughly.
I saw that some western netizens commented that what Merkel said was actually completely correct. Poland and the three Baltic countries did bear great responsibility for triggering this war. "But she forgot who was behind the scenes: Washington."
Why say so?
For in Merkel’s book, we can see that she has a strong philosophy, “A military solution to the conflict, that is, that the Ukrainian army defeats the Russian army, is just an illusion.”
But she soon discovered that the United States had other plans.
The reason why Putin is becoming less and less interested in the Minsk Agreement is because Russia has discovered that the United States is constantly sending weapons to Ukraine. Merkel is indeed worried that this kind of behavior will only strengthen the hawkish power in Ukraine and will not help solve the problem, but it is "in line with the strategic interests of the United States".
As a result, in Ukraine, in the United States and even in some European countries, the conflict was resolved by military means, and Merkel’s diplomatic efforts became increasingly inappropriate.
Alas, it's all a bloody lesson.
Diplomacy is the art of compromise. The compromise of reason is not cowardice, but wisdom-to find the least bad path between ideal and reality.
But in this torn world, hardness is always applauded, and compromise is often demonized to surrender.
For some countries, the lack of rationality and flexibility may be a disaster for the whole country and nation.
Is the tragedy in Ukraine, the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and vast lands, better than the outcome of the initial negotiations?
Poor Merkel's reflection has become a new piece of evidence for Merkel. Now she has become Putin's lackey, and she feels that she will be set foot on 10,000 shoes, so that she will never turn over!
The tragedy of history is that when the lessons become clear, the cost can no longer be repaid.