Merkel's mistakes in German foreign policy towards Russia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22456/2178-8839.127738Keywords:
German foreign policy, Russia, Ukraine crisisAbstract
German foreign policy towards Moscow during Merkel's administration was criticized for failing to dissuade Russia from committing further aggression against Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to analyze the extent to which the German Chancellor was wrong in her foreign policy towards Russia, taking into account Ostpolitik (a West German state policy aimed at Eastern Europe), the interdependence between Germany and Russia in the energy sector (with the participation of natural gas companies from both countries) and the role of mediator played by Berlin in the Ukraine crisis, with the signing of the Minsk agreements within the Normandy Group. The method used is process tracing, to analyze the causal trajectory of facts linking Ostpolitik, interdependence and mediation. It is concluded that Merkel was wrong in not reducing German dependence on Russian natural gas, however, the general performance of Germany's foreign policy was not wrong when considering relations with Russia in the long term, for the construction of a European security architecture more stable.
Keywords: German foreign policy; Russia; Ukraine crisis.
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Accepted 2023-03-14
Published 2023-03-30
