FM: Full-scale war fault of Russian imperialism and Europe turning a blind eye
Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna described suggestions by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the Baltics and Poland are responsible for Russian aggression as impertinent and wrong.
"The reason behind Russia's full-scale aggression lies in Putin's inability to come to terms with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the earlier willingness of Western countries to negotiate with him and their tendency to turn a blind eye to his actions," Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said.
"In our region, the true nature of Russia was recognized early on and warnings were issued about the dangers emanating from it. Yet most of the Western world chose to ignore these warnings — even after Putin, in his 2007 speech at the Munich Security Conference, openly expressed his worldview and goals in a speech filled with anti-Western sentiment and nostalgia for the lost glory of the Soviet Union," Tsahkna said. "Neither the war in Georgia in 2008 nor the annexation of Crimea in 2014 received a strong response. Instead, we witnessed repeated attempts to press the 'reset' button in relations, efforts to seek dialogue with Russia and a willingness to overlook Moscow's brutal actions."
According to the foreign minister, under Chancellor Angela Merkel's leadership, Germany also misjudged the cost of economic cooperation with Russia. By cheerfully inaugurating the Nord Stream pipeline, Merkel contributed to making her country dependent on Russian energy. Another serious mistake, he added, was the decision not to grant Ukraine and Georgia a Membership Action Plan with NATO at the 2008 Bucharest summit.
"All these mistakes made over the years emboldened Russia and gave it the confidence to decide, in early 2022, to launch a full-scale aggression," Tsahkna said.
"These lessons compel us to repeat that Russia understands only the language of strength. We must therefore stay the course on isolating Russia internationally and maintaining economic pressure. At the same time, we must continue providing Ukraine with military, political and economic support," the minister emphasized.
Tsahkna said Estonia is working to ensure that a very strong 19th EU sanctions package will soon be adopted. Discussions are also underway on using Russia's frozen assets for Ukraine's benefit, while continued assistance is being provided through various existing and new initiatives, such as the Ukraine Priority Needs List (PURL).
"Europe is moving in the right direction — together with Germany, which under Chancellor Friedrich Merz has taken decisive steps to support Ukraine and strengthen its own defense capability. In this context, it is worth recalling Merz's words from this summer as a counterpoint to Merkel's past statements: 'For far too long, we in Germany did not want to heed the Baltic states' warnings about Russia's imperialist policy. We have now understood that mistake — and there is no turning back from this understanding,'" Tsahkna said.
The UK tabloid The Daily Mail reported Monday that Merkel, in an interview with Hungarian publication Partizan, implied Poland and the Baltic states were indirectly responsible for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine because they prevented diplomatic relations between Russia and the European Union.
In her telling of history, Poland's refusal to support the Minsk Agreements, a pair of key international agreements between Russia and the EU, emboldened Putin to properly invade Ukraine in 2022 after Poland and the Baltics also refused to support opening up a new direct format of talks with Moscow in 2021.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
