In principle, it is true. Therefore, we see a rather sluggish German policy in counteracting Russian aggression. Germany does not raise officially sensitive for Russia issues, such as the cessation of barbaric bombing by Russian civil aircraft in Syria or the release of Ukrainian prisoners as a prerequisite for talks about any mitigation of sanctions.Moreover, officially Germany never calls Russia an aggressor. If you look at the site of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, you will find there many sections on hot topics in relation to which the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs finds its position. In the case of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the relevant section is called "Ukrainian conflict" or "Ukrainian crisis".
Therefore, when we try to find an explanation why the position of Germany is such, this answer lies on the surface, it is an open secret. Trump simply made it quite clear truth to us from the height of the president of the United States.
Of course, the Germans do not think so. They can name the figures that the import of Russian gas to Germany does not exceed 40%, there is no monopoly position of Gazprom, that only 36% of the oil is also imported from Russia, which is the supplier №1, but it also says that it does not create dependence, because the country has a competitive market. But these are just numbers that lie on the surface, which do not reflect the real state of things.
In short, Schroederization ofGerman politics did not begin with Schroeder (Federal Chancellor of Germany, 1998-2005, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rosneft - Ed.).Schroeder is a culmination. That is the result of the accumulated effect.
Therefore, today we have a German policy that ignores the interests of the European Union, which ignores the transatlantic interests, which is turned to Moscow, in essence under the false slogan of "more dialogue with Russia!". And practically it is a bargaining position and a proposal for a peculiar Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the embodiment of which is "Nord Stream 2".
Even Margaret Thatcher, in 1994, when the leaders of the Cold War met on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the German reunification, said about the strategic mistake made: "If you think that you have brought united Germany into Europe, then not at all. You are tied Europe to Germany". So, in a quarter century we can say that these were prophetic words. The Americans have seen it for a long time. The term "shroderization" was not invented by Americans, but by the Germans themselves. ButTrump, because he often speaks aloud what he has in his mind, in this case hit the mark.
That is why the United States have been pushing Germany, within the framework of Euro-Atlantic solidarity, first of all to increase military spending to 2% of GDP, as the NATO ally should do, to diversify energy supplies rather than to increase dependence on the same source - Russia, feeding its aggression against neighbors and the EU.
Moreover, it is very significant that Trump did this exactly in the NATOformat. Because in Europe, and first and foremost, under the influence of Germany, the energy security issue in the Alliance narrowed to the logistics of providing the necessary fuel and energy resources to military units of the armed forces. That is all. Topics that are related, for example, to projects such as Nord Stream 2, are not considered in NATO. The official position of NATO is: "beyond our competence." This is what Russia needs, in fact.
It is therefore very good that Trump paid attention to this in NATO context. Last year, the former Alliance Secretary General Fogh Rasmussenpointed out that the Nord Stream 2 project is harmful to Europe's energy security. At what the current Secretary General Stoltenberg noticed, this is not NATO's competence. Now, the American president points out that NATO should pay attention to it if it cares about its security not only in the military sense.
