[앵커]
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the recent European energy crisis, German politicians who have been consistent in their pro-Russian actions are drawing attention.
Former Chancellor Angela Merkel, who led the German government for 16 years until last year, denies responsibility for her Russian policy.
Reporter Im Soo-geun on the sidewalk.
[기자]
German gas prices more than doubled than before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
German Deputy Prime Minister Robert Havek blamed the previous German government’s policy of overreliance on Russian natural gas.
[로베르트 하벡 / 독일 부총리 (8월 29일) : 현 사태는 독일이 값싼 러시아 가스에 이례적으로 의존한 결과이며, 독일 당국이 알고도 초래한 것입니다.]
From the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline in 2011 to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in 2018, the entry route for Russian gas, Germany has relied on cheap Russian gas for 55% of its natural gas.
This energy policy has a long-standing bond with the German regime with Russia.
Former Prime Minister Schröder of the Social Democrats, who led the construction of the Northstream 1 gas pipeline, took over as the shareholder chairman of the Russian gas company Gazprom following resigning in 2005, earning huge sums of money every year.
Current German President Walter Steinmeier, who oversaw foreign policy for 15 years under Schröder and his successor Angela Merkel’s government, also took the lead in the construction of the Northstream 2 gas pipeline.
The former Chancellor of the Christian Democratic Party, Merkel, who was born in East Germany and boasted fluent Russian, was also a pro-Russian figure.
A close friend of Putin, he flew to Washington last year following the U.S. government blocked the construction of a Russian gas pipeline and had an argument with Biden.
[앙겔라 메르켈 / 독일 총리 (2021년 7월 15일) : 러시아와 우크라이나, 노르트스트림2 문제를 논의했습니다. 이 사업이 가져올 영향에 대해서는 의견이 엇갈렸습니다.]
In particular, Merkel and French President Sarkozy opposed Ukraine and Georgia’s accession to NATO at the 2008 NATO summit in Romania.
In the end, Merkel’s pro-Russian actions lead to the theory that it was responsible for the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the invasion of Ukraine this year.
[볼로디미르 젤렌스키 / 우크라이나 대통령 (4월 3일) : 앙겔라 메르켈과 니콜라스 사르코지를 부차로 초대해 러시아에 대한 양보가 14년 만에 어떤 결과를 초래했는지 보여주고 싶습니다.]
When the theory of responsibility for war was raised, President Steinmeier admitted his policy ‘wrong’, but Merkel does not admit it.
This is YTN Im Soo-geun.
YTN Sugeun Lim (sglim@ytn.co.kr)
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