NATO should have included Kyiv
Stoltenberg predecessor sees “historic mistake”
03/04/2022 9:59 p.m
In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg remains steadfast and does not want to be drawn into the war with Moscow. His predecessor in office dared to look back and said: Ukraine should have been included at the 2008 NATO summit. Chancellor Merkel also prevented that at the time.
Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described Ukraine’s reluctance to join NATO, which was also largely influenced by Germany, as a “historic mistake”. The western alliance has made many mistakes, Rasmussen told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” in Brussels. “Among them is that at the 2008 NATO summit we could not decide to offer Ukraine and Georgia a plan of action for membership.”
According to Rasmussen, Chancellor Angela Merkel played a key role in this at the time. Referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said: “He concluded that the NATO allies are weak and divided. Then he attacked Georgia to send a clear message that we should not interfere in its neighborhood.” The West acted similarly “weakly and too slowly” when Putin occupied Crimea in 2014. “In retrospect, we should have confronted Putin much earlier.”
“Germany is finally emerging from the shadow of the Second World War”
He was a great critic of the German hesitation, so he appreciates the decisions that have now been made on arms deliveries all the more. “They mark a turning point, not only in recent German history, but also for Europe,” said Rasmussen. “Germany has finally freed itself from the shadow of the Second World War.” A policy of appeasement with dictators never leads to peace, only to conflict or even war. Putin is acting “like a madman” and is currently achieving the opposite of his goals: namely a more closed EU, a stronger NATO and more NATO troops on the Russian border. “Russia is now internationally expelled, led by a political gangster.”
After a special meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, Rasmussen’s direct successor, acting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, positioned himself with restraint: the alliance understands the “desperation” of the Ukrainian government. However, if NATO intervened directly militarily in the conflict with Russia, numerous other countries in Europe would be drawn into the war.