Ex-Chancellor speaks of "break": Merkel: Putin's threats "do not classify as a bluff"

Russia's President Putin is scaring many people with his nuclear threat.

Ex-Chancellor speaks of "break": Merkel: Putin's threats "do not classify as a bluff"

Russia's President Putin is scaring many people with his nuclear threat. Ex-Chancellor Merkel also believes that this should "not be classified as a bluff from the outset". She advocates also thinking about the post-war period. Peace in Europe is only possible "with the involvement of Russia," she says.

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel warns against dismissing threats in the Russian war against Ukraine as a bluff. The attack on Ukraine was a "profound turning point," Merkel said at a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". And one where "we are all well advised to take words seriously and deal with them seriously and not classify them as bluffs from the outset".

Merkel praised the position of Germany, the EU and NATO to protect and restore Ukraine's sovereignty and integrity. "I think this can go hand in hand with always thinking about what seems so unthinkable at the moment, namely how a future security architecture can be developed within the framework of international law," according to the speech manuscript. She again emphasized that a lasting peace in Europe could only come about with the involvement of Russia. "As long as we haven't really managed to do that, the Cold War won't really be over either."

The 68-year-old Merkel did not run for the federal elections last year after 16 years as chancellor. She now appears as a speaker from time to time - including in September at the city anniversary in Goslar - and wants to publish her memoirs in autumn 2024, as her publisher recently announced.

At the event in Munich, Merkel also spoke about her early years in politics. They didn't feel comfortable with the label "Kohl's girl," she said. "It was hardly possible for me to be perceived as an independent person." At the time, after 35 years in the GDR, she finally wanted to make her own opinion heard. "I found that to be quite depressing."

At the beginning of her career, Merkel was Federal Minister for Women and Youth in the cabinet of then Chancellor Helmut Kohl and was long referred to in the media as "Kohl's girl". One of the first articles about her that appeared in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" in the 1990s was entitled: "Why don't we know Angela Merkel?" It said: "She is the youngest minister that Germany has ever had - maybe also the nicest," quoted Merkel. "Although I should quickly realize that being nice in politics is such a thing."