Habeck reprimands unsuspecting BND
Baerbock disappointed by the effects of Russia sanctions
08/24/2023 5:06 p.m
The Greens plead for tough measures early in the Russian war of aggression. They are also decided across the EU, but according to Foreign Minister Baerbock they turn out to be too harmless. The Russian threatening gestures before the invasion were not at all harmless. Only the BND did not see this, criticizes Minister Habeck.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has expressed disappointment with the impact of the sanctions against Russia over the war of aggression against Ukraine. “Actually, economic sanctions would have economic effects. But that’s not the case. Because the logic of democracies doesn’t work in autocracies,” said the Green politician in an interview with journalist Stephan Lamby for his book “Ernstfall. Governing in Times of War”. , which was released today. “We have seen that this war cannot be ended with rational decisions, rational measures taken between civilized governments.”
According to Lamby, he conducted the interview on July 10 of this year. The book author and documentary filmmaker has accompanied the protagonists of the traffic light government with a camera team since the day before they were sworn in in the Bundestag on December 8, 2021. The film will be broadcast on ARD on September 11th.
The western allies hit Russia with massive economic punitive measures after the attack on Ukraine. Despite this, the Russian economy is growing, while the German economy slipped into recession at the beginning of the year. However, Western economists emphasize that Russia owes its growth above all to its war economy and the massive increase in the production of weapons and ammunition. That is not sustainable growth.
Baerbock: No dealings with brutal invaders
Despite the disappointing effect, Baerbock defended the punitive measures against Russia at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday when asked by a journalist. You can’t do business with a country that’s waging a brutal war of aggression, she said. “In order for these sanctions to take effect, it is important that they are supported by all those countries that, like us, stand up for the international rules.” It is important that the sanctions are not circumvented by European companies – for example by exporting via third countries.
In Lamby’s book, Baerbock is also critical of the federal government’s initial reluctance to travel to Kiev. When asked if she had any regrets during her tenure, she replied: “Maybe we should have gone to Ukraine with several people early on, as part of this government.” Baerbock was the first member of the government to travel to the war zone on May 10, 2022 – two and a half months after the Russian invasion. At that time, numerous heads of state and government from European allies were already there for a solidarity visit, as was opposition leader Friedrich Merz. Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not follow until June.
In Lamby’s book, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck accuses the Federal Intelligence Service of misjudging the Russian attack on Ukraine. The intelligence services of Great Britain and the USA had already issued very strong warnings of a war during the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine. “Other services have said: this is an exercise, the worst will not come. But the worst has come.” When asked if he meant the German services, according to Lamby, Habeck replied, “Yes.” The Federal Intelligence Service is the German secret service responsible for gathering information abroad. According to Lamby, the interview with Habeck was conducted on June 23 of this year.
As early as April 2022, the Economics Minister had told him that the BND was wrong immediately after the invasion. “The services predicted that after 24, 48 hours, Putin would occupy all of Ukraine.” It didn’t come to that. As a result, the German government decided two days after the attack to start supplying arms to Ukraine.