The Russian invasion of Ukraine has sent shockwaves through the world, especially in Europe, being the region most immediately affected. The countries close to the Russian border, namely the Baltic states and Poland, had long warned against such a possibility, which they considered the next step after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the month-long Russian military build-up along the border. The Germans, the strongest European economy and the key nation for the European Union, however remained indifferent, regarding such warnings as exaggerated alarmism.
This attitude was not only the fault of the current Federal Government, formed by the Social Democrats, the Green Party and Liberals. Former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat conservatives, then in alliance with the Social Democrats, had retained the hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin might be deterred if offered concessions without any penalties. Even after Moscow, for the first time since 1990, had created a new border in Europe in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, a major pipeline project, Nord Stream 2, between Russia and Germany, was approved and almost operationalised. In regard to the warnings about possible Russian intentions, the German government believed that it understood Russia better than the rest of the world, which eventually turned out to be wishful thinking.
