How Europe's "Mutti" Angela Merkel gave Putin free rein | On the Record

Was Angela Merkel’s Russia policy ultimately more damaging than Gerhard Schröder’s close ties to Vladimir Putin and did it help pave the way for his war against Ukraine? Germany was warned about Putin long before Russia’s full-scale invasion, yet for decades, Berlin pursued closer ties with Moscow, betting that trade and diplomacy could keep the Kremlin in check. Who bears responsibility for one of Europe’s biggest foreign policy miscalculations?

In this special edition of On the Record, Adam Jasser speaks exclusively with German journalist Katja Gloger, co-author of The Failure: An Investigative Report of Germany’s Russia Policy, who personally accompanied Putin during his early years in power. They discuss Gerhard Schröder’s friendship with the Russian leader, Angela Merkel’s Russia policy and the failure of Berlin’s belief in “change through trade.”

Gloger also examines Germany’s historic shift in security policy, its military rearmament and the rise of the far-right AfD. Can Berlin maintain its tougher stance on Moscow, or could Germany return to its old Russia policy?

For Gloger, the lesson is clear: Europe must now build its security architecture not with Russia, but against it.

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:33 - Is there another face of Vladimir Putin?
04:27 - Schröder's friendship with Putin
05:33 - Germany and Europe's relations with Putin
12:39 - Anti-American sentiment in Germany
16:25 - Vladimir Putin's obsessions
18:49 - The invasion of Ukraine and Europe's wake-up call
20:18 - What does Putin really want?

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