Annalena Baerbock spoke on Tuesday in the Council of Europe that we are “fighting a war against Russia”. This statement caused some outrage. A government spokeswoman now clearly contradicted Baerbock.
After a controversial statement by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the German government has emphasized that Germany is not a party to the war in Ukraine. “NATO and Germany are not at war with Russia in this war of aggression against Ukraine,” said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann on Friday in Berlin. “We support Ukraine, but we are not at war.”
Baerbock (Greens) called on Tuesday at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg for the cohesion of the western allies with the following words: “We are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.” The Russian state media gratefully took up this statement as a central key sentence for war propaganda – as proof of it that Germany and the other EU countries are direct conflict parties in Ukraine and are fighting against Russia.
In the longer discussion in which the statement was made, it was about underlining that the EU, the G7 countries and NATO are united against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office said on Friday in Berlin. “Russian propaganda keeps taking statements, sentences, attitudes, positions of the federal government, our partners, and twisting them in a way that serves their purpose. I don’t think it makes sense to go into that now,” the spokesman said. “Whoever is escalating here is Russia.” In the sense of international law, Germany is not a party to the conflict. “In this context, the Foreign Minister must be understood,” said the spokesman.
The German embassy in Moscow also based itself on this position: “Supporting Ukraine with material to exercise its individual right of self-defense against Russia’s illegal war of aggression, which is enshrined in the UN Charter, does not make Germany a party to the conflict.”
The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, had demanded a statement from the German ambassador in Moscow on “contradictory” statements from Berlin on Friday. On the one hand, Germany declares that it is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine. On the other hand, Baerbock says that the countries of Europe are at war with Russia. “Do you understand what you are talking about?” Zakharova wrote on the Telegram news channel.
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber said: “Annalena Baerbock is a massive security risk for our country.” Anyone who talks about German participation in the war is talking Germany into a war. AfD co-boss Tino Chrupalla called for Baerbock’s dismissal. “The Federal Foreign Minister is jeopardizing Germany’s existence with her unprofessional and cheeky behavior,” he said, according to a statement. There was also harsh criticism of Baerbock and her statements on social networks.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) answered the question on ZDF on Wednesday evening as to whether Germany and its allies were not taking part in the war with the tank deliveries that have now been decided: “No, absolutely not.” He added: “There must be no war between Russia and NATO.”
