Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, France and Germany pursued policies toward Vladimir Putin that have proven highly misguided and illusionary. Germany, in particular, developed a high dependency on Russian energy deliveries, which Moscow later weaponized. Despite repeated warnings from Central and Eastern European partners, as well as the Baltic states, decision-makers in Paris and Berlin routinely disregarded these concerns. Correcting these past mistakes has become a crucial component of Germany’s “Zeitenwende” strategy, while simultaneously sparking debates within French politics about the redesign of a new European security order and the reevaluation of Russia's role in it.
Together with you and two guests who have authored books on the Franco-German “blindness” and the “Moscow connections” underpinning the relationship, we would like to discuss what went wrong in French and German Russia policies and what lessons can be learned from that.
Panelists:
Sylvie Kauffmann, Editorial Director and columnist of Le Monde, former Moscow correspondent, and author of the book "Les Aveuglés" (The blindsided)
Dr. Markus Wehner, Political Correspondent, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, former Moscow correspondent, and co-author "Die Moscow-Connection".
Jacob Ross, Research Fellow, France and Franco-German Relations, DGAP
Moderator:
Dr. Henning Hoff, Executive Editor, Internationale Politik Quarterly, DGAP
If you are interested in joining us, please register for the event via events@dgap.org.