Germany did not listen to warnings about Russia, says Annalena Baerbock

Foreign minister says Ukraine war has changed country’s mindset about ‘chequebook diplomacy’

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed how Germany views security and made Berlin realise it failed to listen to eastern European allies who warned of threats from Moscow, Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has written in the Guardian.

In a frank admission about the flaws in postwar German foreign policy she said countries in eastern Europe had been right to warn Berlin that hoping for the best in dealing with the threats from an autocratic Russia was not an adequate response. She said for too long Germany had resorted to “chequebook diplomacy”, or a belief that political and economic interaction would lead Russia to a democratic path.

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