Frank-Walter Steinmeier drew attention to the fact that both the West and Russia are responsible for peace in Europe
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged not to cut all ties with Russia despite the difficult period in relations and drew attention to the fact that both the West and Russia are responsible for peace in Europe. He said this on Thursday during the virtual annual conference of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy.
“In this difficult phase of our relations, we must make sure that all ties are not severed”, – the head of state warned. He pointed out that many bridges between the West and the East have been broken in the last 20 years.
“This is an alarming situation, especially in times of crisis, and I say this openly to Moscow. We are living in a period of difficult relations, but there is a past before and a future after that”, – says the German president. – “We, both sides, are responsible for the future of a peaceful Europe”, – Steinmeier stressed.
At the same time, the German president stressed that the EU and Germany could not turn a blind eye to the allegedly restricted space for civil society development in Russia and called on Moscow to ensure respect for human rights. “We will continue to assess Russia’s actions in terms of compliance with these obligations,” Steinmeier said.
Another round of deterioration in Russian-German relations came after the Alexei Navalny incident. On February 5, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia declared Swedish, Polish and German diplomats who took part in illegal actions in Moscow and St. Petersburg on January 23 persona non grata. In response, the German Foreign Ministry declared an employee of the Russian embassy in Berlin persona non grata. The Russian diplomatic mission called the actions of the FRG authorities a “groundless and unfriendly step.
Earlier on Thursday, the German Prosecutor General’s Office brought charges against a German who allegedly cooperated with Russian intelligence.