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 Andreas UmlandSecuring peace instead of rewarding expansionAn
appeal, by over 100 German-speaking experts on Eastern Europe, for a
reality-based and not illusions-guided Russia policy. On December 5, 2014, 60 prominent German
personalities from politics, business, and the cultural sphere published a
joint appeal titled “Another War in Europe? Not in Our Name!” Although
this open letter deals with Germany’s policies towards Russia and Ukraine, only
a few of the signees are currently involved in East European studies, or in
journalistic reporting about Ukraine. On the contrary, most of those who signed
the appeal have only limited expertise in the post-Soviet space, little
relevant research experience, and apparently no deep knowledge of Ukraine or
recent events there. This is no coincidence. The overwhelming majority of German
researchers, activists, and reporters who, from a scholarly, civic or
journalistic perspective, are observing the current conflict in Ukraine are
united in their assessment: there is an obvious aggressor in this war, and
there is a clearly identifiable victim. Just as other formerly occupied countries’
inherent flaws did not diminish the criminal nature of their conquest, Russia’s
annexation of Crimea and its poorly concealed intervention in eastern Ukraine cannot be justified by the shortcomings of the Ukrainian political system. If Moscow feels threatened by the EU
and/or NATO, it should resolve this dispute with Brussels. Ukraine is not a
member of these organizations, nor is it engaged in accession negotiations with
either. Nevertheless, Russia is pointing to a supposed threat from the west
when justifying its “hybrid war” in eastern Ukraine, a battle that has already
left thousands killed, maimed, traumatised or homeless. Learning from past
experience In their appeal, the 60 signees advise that “the German
government would not be taking a ‘special path,’ if it were to continue to call
for sober-mindedness and dialogue with Russia during this standoff.” Prior
experience should, however, make Berlin pause: in the summer of 2008, a similar
“standoff” arose in the Caucasus following Russia’s de facto abrogation
of an EU-brokered Russian-Georgian peace treaty. Although Moscow never fulfilled
the agreement’s crucial provision, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the
Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Germany proposed a
“Modernisation Partnership” with Russia only a few weeks later. The EU and most
of its member states subsequently followed Germany’s example. Yet, Russian
troops are stationed in Georgia to this day. The Kremlin’s behaviour in 2008 already
constituted a repeat offense, just as Germany’s reaction to the Russian
occupation of Georgian territory triggered adéjà vu. In
2001, Vladimir Putin gave a much-celebrated speech to the Bundestag,
at Germany’s invitation – despite the fact that it was already clear that
Russia would fail to carry out its legal obligation to withdraw its troops from
the Moldovan region of Transnistria. In 2003, Brussels offered to open
negotiations with the Kremlin on a new cooperation agreement with the EU. Yet,
Russian troops are stationed in Moldova to this day. The 60 personalities write in their appeal: “Every journalist versed in foreign policy
will understand Russia’s fear after, in 2008, NATO member states invited
Georgia and Ukraine to become members in the alliance.” Journalists versed in
foreign policy will recall that, at the time, around 3% of the population of
the Russian Federation viewed NATO accession by Georgia or Ukraine as their
country’s greatest threat. At its Bucharest Summit in April 2008, the alliance
rejected, for the time being, both Ukraine and Georgia’s membership application
– primarily at the request of Germany and taking into consideration Russia’s
warnings. Moscow has since deprived both states of their territorial integrity.
Two other former Soviet republics, Estonia and Latvia, are also frequently
defamed by Kremlin-controlled media, and have treated their large
Russian-speaking minorities more restrictively than Ukraine. The Baltic states,
however, have been NATO members since 2004, and thus been able to maintain
their territorial integrity and peaceful economic development. Germany cannot turn a
blind eye Various half-truths about the so-called
“Ukraine Crisis,” some of which represent thinly veiled slander of the
Ukrainian people, are circulating in the German public. Whether it concerns
language policy or minority rights, right-wing extremism or the recent
political transition in Kyiv, misinformation and biased interpretations
regarding Ukraine have become anchored in the minds of many ordinary people, as
a consequence of superficial reporting and frequent appearances of Kremlin
mouthpieces in television discussions on Ukraine. German policy towards Eastern Europe
should be based on past experience, factual knowledge, and careful analysis,
and not on pathos, historical amnesia and blanket judgments. No one is seeking
military confrontation with Russia or wishes to break off dialog with the
Kremlin. However, the territorial integrity of Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova
cannot be sacrificed to “sober-mindedness”. Peace should be build without
weapons – not by legitimising their use in offensive military actions. It is in
our own interest to counter the Kremlin’s attempt to export its illiberal
vision for society into the EU. A key pillar of the international nuclear arms
control regime, the Budapest Memorandum, should be upheld for the sake of our
children and grandchildren. The Ukrainian Soviet Republic lost more
than five million of its people between 1941 and 1944. Over two million
Ukrainians were abducted and sent to Germany to work as forced labourers.
Around four million Ukrainian Red Army soldiers participated in the defeat of
the Third Reich. We especially, as Germans, cannot once again turn a blind eye
when the sovereignty of a post-Soviet republic and, in this case, even the
survival of the Ukrainian state is at stake. 1.
Sabine Adler, Deutschlandradio public broadcasting, Warsaw 2.
Hannes Adomeit, formerly with the German Institute for International and
Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin 3.
Vera Ammer, Memorial Germany, Berlin 4.
Martin Aust, Ludwigs Maximilians University of Munich 5.
Klaus Bachmann, Social Sciences and Humanities University of Warsaw 6.
Mariano Barbato, University of Passau 7.
Marieluise Beck, German Bundestag, Berlin 8.
Klaus Bednarz, formerly with ARD public television, Moscow 9.
Jan-Claas Behrends, Centre for Contemporary History, Potsdam 10.
Timm Beichelt, European University Viadrina of Frankfurt/Oder 11.
Tilman Berger, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 12.
Dietrich Beyrau, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 13.
Florian Bieber, Karl Franzens University of Graz 14.
Katrin Boeckh, Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg 15.
Tim Bohse, German-Russian Exchange, Berlin 16.
Falk Bomsdorf, formerly with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Moscow 17.
Hans-Juergen Boemelburg, Justus Liebig University of Giessen 18.
Thomas Bremer, Westfaelische Wilhelms University of Muenster 19.
Ulf Brunnbauer, University of Regensburg 20.
Karsten Brueggemann, University of Tallinn 21.
Timm Buechner, Integrate Climate UG, Berlin 22.
Lars Buenger, Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights, Zurich 23.
Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Green Eastern Europe Platform, Goettingen 24.
Claudia Dathe, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 25.
Andreas Decker, Memorial Deutschland, Munich 26.
Klaus-Helge Donath, daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung, Moscow 27.
Heike Doerrenbaecher, formerly with the German Society for East European
Studies, Berlin 28.
Gesine Drews-Sylla, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 29.
Wolfgang Eichwede, formerly with the University of Bremen 30.
Tobias Ernst, Russian & Ukrainian translator, Stuttgart 31.
Liana Fix, German Council on Foreign Relations, Berlin 32.
Tobias Flessenkemper, Southeast Europe Association of Germany, Nice 33.
Joerg Forbrig, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Berlin 34.
Annette Freyberg-Inan, Technical University of Darmstadt 35.
Helmut Frick, formerly with the Federal Foreign Office, Berlin 36.
Juliane Fuerst, University of Bristol 37.
Mischa Gabowitsch, Einstein Forum, Potsdam 38.
Caroline von Gall, University of Cologne 39.
Klaus Gestwa, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 40.
Christoph Giesel, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena 41.
Luciano Gloor, “Eastern Partnership” Culture Program, Kyiv 42.
Witold Gnauck, German-Polish Science Foundation, Frankfurt/Oder 43.
Frank Golczewski, University of Hamburg 44.
Tobias Grill, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich 45.
Hanno Gundert, n-Ost Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe,
Berlin 46.
Michael Hagemeister, Ruhr University of Bochum 47.
Steffen Halling, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP),
Berlin 48.
Lars Handrich, DIW econ Ltd., Berlin 49.
Rebecca Harms, European Parliament, Brussels/Strasbourg 50.
Anne Hartmann, Ruhr University of Bochum 51.
Guido Hausmann, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich 52.
Nicolas Hayoz, University of Fribourg 53.
Andre Haertel, Friedrich Schiller University of Jena 54.
Andreas Heinemann-Grueder, Georg Eckert Institute, Braunschweig 55.
Felix Heinert, Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe,
Marburg 56.
Marlene P. Hiller, formerly with the history magazine Damals,
Badenweiler 57.
Mieste Hotopp-Riecke, Institute for Caucasica, Tatarica and Turkestan Studies,
Berlin 58.
Hubertus Jahn, University of Cambridge 59.
Sabine Jenni, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich 60.
Juergen Jerger, Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg 61.
Wilfried Jilge, University of Leipzig 62.
Andreas Kappeler, University of Vienna 63.
Walter Kaufmann, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Berlin 64.
Peter Koller, Green Eastern Europe Plattform, Berlin 65.
Miriam Kosmehl, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Kyiv 66.
Irma Kreiten, formerly with the Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 67.
Katharina Kucher, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 68.
Sergey Lagodinsky, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Berlin 69.
Nico Lange, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Berlin 70.
Manuel Leppert, Ettersberg Foundation, Weimar 71.
Markus Loening, Liberal International, Berlin 72.
Heinz-Dietrich Loewe, formerly with the Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg 73.
Otto Luchterhandt, formerly with the University of Hamburg 74.
Marian Luschnat, University of Hamburg 75.
Markus Lux, Robert Bosch Foundation, Stuttgart 76.
Martin Malek, National Defence Academy, Vienna 77.
Markus Mathyl, Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg 78.
Markus Meckel, Federal Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship,
Berlin 79.
Stefan Melle, German-Russian Exchange, Berlin 80.
Jakob Mischke, Westphalian Wilhelms University of Muenster 81.
Michael Moser, University of Vienna 82.
Uwe Neumaerker, Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin 83.
Dietmar Neutatz, Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg 84.
Andrej Novak, Green Eastern Europe Plattform, Nuremberg 85.
Ferdinand Pavel, DIW econ Ltd., Berlin 86.
Christian Pletzing, Academia Baltica, Sankelmark 87.
Nikolaj Plotnikov, Ruhr University of Bochum 88.
Susanne Pocai, Humboldt University of Berlin 89.
Gerd Poppe, formerly with the German Bundestag, Berlin 90.
Jakob Preuss, documentary film maker, Berlin 91.
Detlev Preusse, formerly with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Sankt Augustin 92.
Edgar von Radetzky, Memorial Germany, Berlin 93.
Boris Reitschuster, weekly Focus, Moscow 94.
Felix Riefer, Lev Kopelev Forum, Cologne 95.
David Rinnert, Green Eastern Europe Plattform, Glasgow 96.
Stefan Rohdewald, Justus Liebig University of Giessen 97.
Maren Rohe, Young European Federalists, Bonn 98.
Heike Roll, University of Duisburg-Essen 99.
Erich Roeper, Westphalian Wilhelms University of Muenster 100. Claudia
Sabic, Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main 101. Manuel
Sarrazin, German Bundestag, Berlin 102. Karol
Sauerland, Pomeranian University in Słupsk 103. Schamma
Schahadat, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 104. Stefanie
Schiffer, “Kiev Dialogue,” Berlin 105. Judith
Schifferle, Philosophicum Basel 106. Felix
Schimansky-Geyer, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy 107. Frank
Schimmelfennig, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich 108. Karl Schloegel,
formerly with the European University Viadrina of Frankfurt/Oder 109. Carmen
Schmidt, University of Cologne 110. Henrike
Schmidt, Free University of Berlin 111.
Winfried Schneider-Deters, formerly with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Kyiv 112. Anna
Schor-Tschudnowskaja, Sigmund Freud University of Vienna 113. Gunda
Schumann, Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF), Berlin 114.
Christoph Schulz, MitOst Association for Cultural Exchange,
Berlin 115. Werner Schulz,
formerly with the European Parliament, Brussels/Strasbourg 116. Diana
Siebert, Initiative for a Democratic Ukraine, Cologne 117. Jens
Siegert, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Moscow 118. Gerhard
Simon, formerly with the University of Cologne 119. Susanne
Spahn, freelance journalist, Berlin 120. Stephan
Stach, University of Leipzig 121. Martin
Stein, Free University of Berlin 122. Kai
Struve, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg 123. Susan
Stewart, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP),
Berlin 124.
Wolfgang Templin, formerly with the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Warsaw 125.
Hartmute Trepper, formerly with the Research Centre for East European Studies
at Bremen 126. Stefan
Troebst, University of Leipzig 127. Andreas
Umland, Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, Kyiv (editor of the appeal) 128. Ricarda
Vulpius, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich 129. Bodo
Weber, Democratization Policy Council, Berlin 130.
Elisabeth Weber, Lev Kopelev Forum, Cologne 131. Tobias
Weihmann, German-Belarussian Society, Berlin 132.
Reinhard Weisshuhn, Robert Havemann Society, Berlin 133. Anna
Veronika Wendland, Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central
Europe, Marburg 134.
Martin Schulze Wessel, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich 135.
Jan-Henrik Wiebe, daily newspaper Thueringische Landeszeitung, Jena 136.
Hans-Georg Wieck, formerly with the Federal Foreign Office, Bonn 137. Irina
Wutsdorff, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen 138. Bernd
Wieser, Karl Franzens University of Graz 139. Susann
Worschech, European University Viadrina of Frankfurt/Oder 140. Johann
Zajaczkowski, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy 141. Kerstin
Zimmer, Philipps University of Marburg 142.
Josephine von Zitzewitz, University of Cambridge Post-scriptum: Numerous additional current and former
parliamentarians, artists, activists, academics and interested citizens voiced
their support for this appeal as signatures were being collected. Some of the
most influential German correspondents on Russia and Ukraine sympathise with
the appeal, but, for specifically professional reasons, did not add their
signatures. The appeal appeared in Zeit Online, Der Standard, Die Welt,
Berliner Zeitung and Der Tagesspiegel. The German original appeal can
be freely signed on the site Change.org. See also the earlier international
appeal “No more
business as usual with Moscow!” - Public Statement of Researchers of
Post-Soviet Politics |