The statements of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the blame of the Baltic states and Poland for the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine provoked a sharp reaction in Warsaw and the Baltic states, writes LETA, citing TVP.
In an interview with the Hungarian YouTube channel Partizan, Merkel claimed that she and French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to hold direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2021, but Poland and the Baltic states' refusal to support this idea allegedly contributed to the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Russia and the European Union. This, in turn, later led to Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stated on Monday that Merkel's assertion that Warsaw opposed such talks is as credible as what she wrote in her memoirs, that no one from Central Europe protested against the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
"Look at how the German government reacted to my words in 2007 about how we don't like agreements being made behind our backs. Therefore, the chancellor probably just forgot how her own government reacted to our protests," Sikorski reminded.
"Angela Merkel, with her thoughtless interview, proved that she is one of the most harmful German politicians for Europe in the last century," wrote former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on social media platform X.
Polish Minister of Regional Policy and former ambassador to Russia Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalench pointed out that Merkel's statements benefit Moscow.
"To blame for the outbreak of war simply because someone did not sit down at the negotiating table with Russia in time and did not bow low enough to Moscow is absurd," she stated.
Politicians from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia share a similar opinion.
Former Prime Minister of Latvia and now senior geopolitical advisor at the international strategic communications agency Kreab Krisjanis Karins noted that in 2021 many countries, including Germany, did not understand Russia, but expressed surprise that after everything that has happened in Ukraine, Merkel still thinks so.
"Putin acts as he does, and the only choice for the West is either to submit or to resist. It is surprising that the former Chancellor of Germany says such things today when it seems clear to everyone what Russia represents. I am glad that the new Chancellor of Germany, Friedrich Merz, has different views than Merkel," Karins stated.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna emphasized on X that only Russia is to blame for this aggression. "To say that the Baltic states or Poland are guilty of Russia's aggression against Ukraine is not only audacious but simply incorrect. (...) The true reason is Putin's refusal to accept the collapse of the USSR and the previous leniency of the West, which ignored clear warning signals," Tsahkna noted.
Meanwhile, former Polish ambassador to the U.S. Marek Magierowski criticized the media for exaggerating Merkel's statements. "The former chancellor only said that the Baltic states and Poland did not agree with the new format of EU negotiations with Russia. There is quite a distance between this statement and the formulation that 'Poland is responsible for Putin's war,'" Magierowski emphasized.
