“I think my decision was correct“With these words, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel responded to the criticism she has been receiving, both in her country and from the president. Volodímir Zelenskito veto access to NATO at the Bucharest summit held in 2008. “I knew that (Vladímir) Putin was not going to accept it without retaliation, and (Moscow) would have done something (to Ukraine) that he did not we would have been able to respond,” he emphasized. This is one of the most controversial points addressed in his memoir, titled ‘Freedom’, edited by RBAwhich he presented this Tuesday in Barcelona.
German politics, in the calm tone that has characterized his administration, he has also defended the Minsk Agreements, which decreed a precarious ceasefire in 2014 and 2015 between Russia, Ukraine and the Donbas rebelswhich was always half fulfilled, and which did not prevent it from exploding, in 2022the war in the Slavic country. “Ukraine barely had an Army and would not have been able to cope (with an invasion),” he said, before implying that these pacts prevented Russia from taking over of the country. The former chancellor, who maintains that it was necessary to talk to Russia “because it exists”, has admitted a certain degree of responsibility in the failed investment in Nord Stream 2, a project intended to provide cheap gas to German industry that ended up increasing dependency. of Moscow of the German country. “I admit that I acted in the interests of the German economy,” he stressed.
Presentation of the memoirs ‘Freedom’, by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the RBA Auditorium, on December 10, 2024, in Barcelona / Pool
Influence of the GDR
The former chancellor has reviewed her life and political career. He has admitted that his childhood in the German Democratic Republic influenced a lotto the point of reaching the conclusion, at an early age, that that system was “irreformable” and that she preferred to study and dedicate herself to a profession that did not put her in collision with the state. When at the age of 35 the german reunificationunderstood that the party whose values he assumed was Christian Democratic Union (CDU)a party that, at that time, was governed primarily by men. Merkel has admitted that being a woman and also originally from the GDR have been obstacles that she has had to overcome. “When things go wrong my origin always comes out” in the communist germanyhe emphasized.
The politician has also defended the austerity policy she advocated during the euro crisis with the countries of Mediterranean Europe, citing the spanish economy: “Spain is doing well,” he recalled. The former chancellor took advantage of the occasion to hold a brief meeting with the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa.
