Merkel compares annexation of the Crimea with the division of Germany
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she does not agree with a statement by the Chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) Christian Lindner, who has proposed turning a blind eye to the annexation of the Crimea, Deutsche Welle reported.
In an interview with the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, which was released on Sunday, September 10, Merkel cited the situation of the division of Germany as an example to reiterate that historical injustice should not be tolerated.
"When I hear, for one, that the annexation of Crimea should be simply accepted, I think - what would have happened, if the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was treated in the same manner, under the slogan that Germany remains divided, that nothing can be changed here?" Merkel said. She called the fact that people were then ready to stand by their principles throughout their lives “courage”. Such courage is a great virtue, said the German Chancellor.
Earlier, Christian Lindner, in an interview with the newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, expressed the opinion that "Germany should accept annexation of the Crimea as 'permanent provisional solution'." In his opinion, the conflict around the peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, should be "dissociated" from the rest of the issues in order to make progress on other tracks. At the same time, he pointed to the need to adjust the course of Berlin in relation to the Russian Federation. "Security and prosperity in Europe depend, in part, on relations with Moscow," he believes.
Furthermore, the FDP leader expressed the opinion that "we have never recognized the annexation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Union, but statesmen like Willy Brandt and Walter Scheel were able to develop an Ostpolitik (Eastern policy) [in the 1970s] which Helmut Kohl and Hans-Dietrich Genscher pursued right up to German unification.”