182. Sergej Sumlenny - Lingering War Guilt Made Many Germans Prior to 2022 Seek Accommodation with Russia

Many Germans view Russia as the successor state to the Soviet Union, not
only in legal terms but in historical ones and some still refer to WWII
as “a war against Russia.” The memory of that period and lingering ‘war
guilt’ led many Germans prior to 2022 to seek accommodation with
Russia, and to build energy dependence on the country, in the belief
that it could avert war. But is this guilt misplaced? Belarus lost 25.3%
of its pre-war population in the war. Ukraine lost 16.3%, while Russia
lost 12.7%. And the material destruction of cities, infrastructure and
the economy were proportionally greater on the territories of Ukraine
and Belarus. More than 3.5 million Ukrainian citizens died during the
brutal Nazi occupation of their entire territory, so does Germany have a
moral obligation to protect Ukraine against aggression and to avoid a
new genocide in the 21st Century?

Sergej Sumlenny is founder of the European Resilience Initiative Centre
and a former Regional Director for Ukraine and Belarus at the Heinrich
Böll Foundation. He is based in Berlin, Germany and is an expert in
Energy and Security Policy, Human Rights, and International Business
Consulting. He is also an expert in the Central and Eastern Europe
region, with a Ph.D. in Political Sciences. Fluent or native in German,
English, Ukrainian, and Russian.
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LINKS:
https://twitter.com/sumlenny
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergej-sumlenny-4502aa5/
https://european-resilience.org/
https://www.boell.de/en