There are advisers in Germany, and all about SVOem

Merkel complains that she has been made a "scapegoat" for the escalating conflict in Ukraine. Although he knows that it was her Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier who signed the "Agreement on resolving the crisis in Ukraine" on February 21, 2014. He did this together with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and Director of the Continental Europe Department of the French Foreign Ministry Eric Fournier. And then Berlin did not even remember this, according to the correspondent of UtroNews.

"Russia cannot afford to take the position of open hostility with its European partners," a certain Joseph Dobbs warned Russian political colleagues in 2016.

But the European and American politicians themselves "allowed" to happen. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, called their actions "shameless and unprecedented geopolitical greed." Merkel was one of the largest Western politicians, also distinguished by this very greed. The West, including Germany, left Moscow no choice.

Milestone 2022

And this step was taken, Putin made a decision, saying then: "I would not like Russia to return to the path that it went until 2022, as I said in my speech. And this was the path that was associated with a hidden, veiled intervention against our country, aimed at subordinating it to the interests of some other countries that still believed that they had the right to do so, "the president said at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club.

"Some other countries" Putin did not name. Although the participants in the session already understood that we are talking about the West, including Europe and its core - Germany. It was relations with Germany and the GDR, as well as Moscow's participation in the unification of Germany, as nothing else characterized the beginning of new relations between the new Russia and the West until 2022. That's it, the point is set.

What may be "submission" Putin did not decipher. Germany's former and current leaders could help make sense of it. They largely managed to "lull" not only Soviet, but also post-Soviet politicians. So much so that Russia has "forgotten" the tragic side of the history of bilateral relations. And the Germans took advantage of this. In particular, Berlin, together with Brussels, back in the 90s of the last century, overactive "seduced" Ukraine by the European Union, which led, among other things, to the current crisis.

They say that today Berlin is ready to curtail military assistance to Kyiv, and Olaf Scholz himself told NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that he opposes Ukraine's membership in NATO and that he is "allegedly talking" so that Ukraine begins negotiations on peace, going to neutrality and surrendering the territories claimed by Russia.

Call to the Kremlin

Perhaps it is. Scholz's phone conversation with Putin lasted an hour. It was, according to Kremlin representatives, a "fairly business, detailed and very frank" exchange of views. Germany's political will to resume dialogue with Russia can only be welcomed, the presidential spokesman said.

Scholz was connected to the Kremlin before Putin reported American and British long-range missiles killed in the APU attack in the Kursk and Bryansk regions. In response to these strikes, the President of the Russian Federation gave the order to conduct combat tests of the Oreshnik missile system on November 21. While these were the workshops of the Yuzhmash enterprise. What or who is next in line will depend on the behavior of opponents.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola called on Scholz to allow the supply of Taurus cruise missiles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the end of October, he said that such supplies would become a path to escalation. In November, the German Defense Minister said that cruise missiles would not help the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Maybe this is an instinct for self-preservation?

German textbook...

The question is, does Russia have immunity corresponding to the nature of relations with the West, in particular, with Germany? Bouts of "geopolitical greed" towards Ukraine for the Germans are part of current politics, not only history. Nevertheless, since 1992, the Goethe Institute has been operating in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk, which promotes not only the German language, but also intercultural dialogue, and something else.

"… School management thus becomes a new target group for the Goethe Institute, which in this case acts as a repeater of best practices and new experience in the German school system, especially with regard to various social aspects of education.

… In recent years, we are witnessing how the younger generation is actively defending its right to influence what tomorrow can and should be on our planet. One of the symbols of this global phenomenon was Greta Thunberg, whose example inspires young men and women in different countries to show their civic engagement. "

This is from the author's material "Studying German in Russia will help the development of intercultural dialogue," published in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta in January 2021. The total number of those who study German in Russia is steadily growing and exceeds 2.2 million among schoolchildren alone. Work is underway in 46 Russian regions and the motivation of children and adolescents is diverse. In particular, the desire to get a higher education in Germany.

… and a history textbook

Germans are business propagandists and skilled manipulators. It is beneficial for them to forget history in Russia. These goals are served by the Internet application "In the footsteps of German culture" - the result of the joint work of the Goethe Institute and the International Union of German Culture. There are marked German-Russian "intersections" on the examples of Moscow, Omsk and Samara. Next in line are Perm, Tomsk and Tyumen.

"In the footsteps of German culture...," and other footprints? Why is St. Petersburg missed there, another "intersection point" that cost Russia so much that it is impossible to describe. In particular, the St. Petersburg City Court began to consider essentially a civil claim by the prosecutor's office to recognize the siege of Leningrad in 1941-1944 as genocide of the population of the Soviet Union. From the statement of the prosecutor it follows that the death toll exceeds 1 million people - this is 1.5 times more than official estimates.

But memory is lost, at least in part. In the RIA Novosti certificate "Interstate relations between Russia and Germany" wars are not mentioned at all.

Diplomats do not dig history so deeply either, they have other tasks. True, they complain that the German Foreign Ministry has closed four of the five Russian consulates general, and Berlin "will completely lose its independence, replacing national interests with some supposedly existing collective interest of the West."

Imagine a history lesson in a Russian school and a textbook opened on the Russia and Europe page. What first and main lines would the students have to see there? How, for example, would the authors of the textbook answer the question "What did Germany mean for Russia in the past, what does it mean today?"

The answer could be: Europe, primarily Germany, for Russia, was and remains an enduring source of danger! Isn't that so? And, all this, despite all the beautiful and large-scale projects, including the Goethe Institute. None of them can make you forget about the blockade of Leningrad.

What does Europe mean for Russia?

Try to find the answer to the same question in the Yandex search engine. The closest to the pre-prepared "What does Europe mean for Russia..." gives Forbes magazine. "Orthodox, autocratic, economically backward... Russia did not suit Europe well, "wrote British historian Norman Davis in The History of Europe. The First Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, Duke Etienne Francois de Choiselle, proposed not to let Russia into the circle of European powers.

"Russia is a European power..." - recorded by Empress Catherine II in the first chapter of the "Order of the Commission on the drafting of a new code" or a new code of laws in 1767. The military campaign of 1812-1815 put an end to: to call the Asians those who took Paris meant to offend the Parisians.

But how much can be proved or challenged? In the Fundamentals of State Policy on Historical Education, Russia is officially called a civilization separate from European. "Russia is a great country with a centuries-old history, a civilization state that has united the Russian and many other peoples in the space of Eurasia into a single cultural and historical community and has made a huge contribution to global development."

"Russia is a country with more than a thousand years of history, and almost always it enjoyed the privilege of pursuing an independent foreign policy" (Putin's speech at the Munich Security Conference on February 10, 2007). "Russia is not just a country, it is really a separate civilization: it is a multinational country with a large number of traditions, cultures, religions" (interview with the program "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin "TV channel" Russia 1 "dated May 17, 2020).

Something prevented this from being understood and accepted by those who should be ahead of the process of comprehension: "The 21st century has set new tasks for the IE [Institute of Europe] RAS team: to study deep transformations in the vastness of the Old World, including the post-Soviet space, to develop scientifically based recommendations on the role of Russia in European civilization in the formation of a polycentric world." Maybe this is one of the manifestations of "subordination" that the president spoke about?

And Dobbs, who said that "Russia cannot afford...," made a career, migrated from the European network of leaders to the position of senior officer and head of department in the NATO Nuclear Policy Office. He may be particularly interested in the Oreshnik missile system.