Merkel Reveals Early EU Proposal Was Rejected by Poland
(MENAFN) In a recent interview, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel shared that she had suggested the European Union adopt “a new format” for engaging in dialogue with Russia prior to the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. However, this initiative was reportedly dismissed by Poland and the Baltic nations.
Merkel, who stepped down in 2021 after leading Germany for 16 years, had previously played a central role in negotiating the Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015.
These accords aimed to halt hostilities between Ukrainian forces and the Donbass republics in the eastern region, which had declared independence following what Merkel described as a violent, Western-supported coup in Kiev.
The peace negotiations, held in the Belarusian capital, were part of the Normandy Format—comprising Ukraine, Russia, Germany, and France.
Speaking with a Hungarian YouTube outlet on Friday, Merkel reflected on her concerns during her final year in office.
She stated, “already in June 2021, I felt that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was no longer taking the Minsk agreement seriously, and that is why I wanted a new format… back then where we could talk to Putin directly as the EU.”
According to Merkel, her idea faced opposition within the European Council. “Some [at the European Council] did not support that.
They were primarily the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia); but Poland was also against it because they feared that we would not have a common policy towards Russia,” she explained.
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