... disappeared. These places bear witness to the fact that many Germans, consciously or unconsciously, are still deeply rooted in these seemingly vanished landscapes.
The German soul is closely connected with the East and its territories, especially with Germany’s historical East, including East and West Prussia and the Memel territory.
According to estimates, about 14 million refugees had to leave their homes after the Second World War, losing everything, all their belongings. About 2 million died in transit, and Germany lost a quarter of its territory....
... include the volume of economic ties, and the track record of past relations, which could really be considered exclusive. In Russia, apparently, Germany is perceived as less aggressive than the United States, and as more pragmatic and less Russophobic in comparison with the former Eastern European allies and Soviet republics, while being geographically and economically closer than the rest of Western Europe. Of course, all this hardly means that Germany would be knocked out of a common European or transatlantic policy ...
... Ivanov, RIAC President, addressed the audience of the Federal Academy for Security Policy (Germany), an inter-ministerial institution for advanced studies, education and training in security policy in the remit of the Federal Ministry of Defense of Germany. The Academy is headed by Ambassador Ekkehard Brose.
RIAC President devoted his speech to the problems in relations between Russia and the West at the present stage, as well as the possibilities and prospects for building a dialog on key issues in the area of security and humanitarian cooperation.
Igor Ivanov’s Remarks at the Federal Academy for Security Policy
... current deterioration of Russian-German and Russian-West relations was caused by a lack of mutual trust and the inability to predict policy responses. Whereas several Russian participants argued that there was no trust between Russia and the collective West and that is why Russia still considers NATO a threat, one German participant replied that trust existed after the reunification of Germany and the end of the bipolar confrontation.
Many participants argued that the root cause of the current lack of bilateral trust was the disillusion with the value-based approach on both sides. The Russian population became disillusioned with democracy ...
Interview with Andreas Metz
Russia and the West have been dwelling upon the extremely difficult and delicate Ukrainian issue for over a year now. And no one knows for how long this matter will determine the Russia-West relations. Mass media are overwhelmed with various suggestions and prognosis for the future. Germany has for long been one of the closest Russian partners in the EU. Now Berlin and Moscow are experiencing one of the coldest periods of their friendship. RIAC has asked one of the German prominent experts,
Andreas Metz
, Director of Communications ...
