Posted on 05/22/2007 12:22:33 PM PDT by lizol
Analysis: Germans enter new phase in relations with Russia
By Mark Landler Published: May 21, 2007
FRANKFURT: Germany's relations with Russia were never likely to be as cozy under Chancellor Angela Merkel as under her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, who adopted a 3-year-old Russian girl and invited President Vladimir Putin to his private home to toast his 60th birthday.
But Merkel's tense exchanges with Putin over human rights and other contentious issues at a Europe-Russia summit meeting last week underscore how much has changed - at least in tone.
"Our talks today showed that we are not cooperating very intensively," said Merkel, who was there as the current holder of the rotating presidency of the European Union. She also scolded Putin for barring anti-government demonstrators from the meeting, in the southeastern Russian city of Samara.
Moscow, Putin replied frostily, planned to defend its interests "in the same professional way as our partners do."
What is less clear is how Germany and Russia will navigate this new phase in their relationship - one of the most sensitive, strategically important and historically fraught in the diplomatic world.
The hiccups between Berlin and Moscow are dominating political debate here, fueling almost as much anxiety as the impasse between Germany and the United States four years ago over the Iraq war.
Part of the problem, analysts say, is that Germany's grand coalition government is divided about how to handle a Moscow that is using its mineral wealth to project its authority. Merkel's Christian Democrats favor a cordial but more distant relationship, while Schröder's Social Democrats are eager to build on the ties he forged while in office.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
“Germany is still trying to salvage some kind of a strategic partnership with Russia, while a majority of European countries question whether that even makes sense anymore,...”
probably not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.