Cyrill Jean Nunn can see the building of the Russian embassy from his office in The Hague. It has been his view since August, when Nunn took office as the new German ambassador to the Netherlands. For several weeks now, the originally German-French Nunn (64) has been looking at it with new eyes.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has taken few EU countries by surprise as much as Germany. That very country always tried to keep the lines to Moscow open, even if only noise could be heard on them. The German government was a strong advocate of the idea that commercial cross-linking would make Russia a better country. Germany itself set the example by becoming a major buyer of Russian gas through the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream.
On Sunday 27 February, three days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a radical change of course, a Zeitenwende† No more outstretched hand, but 100 billion euros extra for defense. Farewell to Russian gas. Sanctions. And, despite previous hesitations, arms supplies to Kiev. With a small leading role for the Netherlands, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: when The Hague asks permission to supply anti-tank weapons from Germany to Ukraine, Berlin is more or less forced to act.
“When the Netherlands says something, everyone listens,” Ambassador Nunn says. “In Germany we certainly listen. Never make your own role too small. In Berlin, supplies were considered, but the break with Russia is a very painful one for us – and therefore more difficult. The diligence of the Netherlands was immediately noticed in Berlin and contributed to the turnaround.”
Why a turnaround now and not as early as 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea?
“The fall of the Wall and German reunification felt like the beginning of a more friendly and peaceful period. Germany relaxed. Way too much, you might say afterwards. The realization that conflicts are not just distant, in Afghanistan or Mali, I think there has always been, but the reaction has always been slow. It is only now that the destroy button has been pushed in Moscow that we are wide awake and realizing, far too late, that our continent and our values are at risk. So yes, self-criticism is very appropriate here.”
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How do you explain this lenient attitude towards Russia so far?
“German policy after the Second World War has always been dominated by that war. From the guilt and the idea of: never this again. This was also accompanied by a strong belief in the need to build bridges. In 1955, then Chancellor Konrad Adenauer recognized the Soviet Union, against his own principles, and arranged for the return of German prisoners of war.
“The kind of pragmatism that would come to characterize post-war Germany. In fact, in the fall of the Wall, proof was seen that this approach also works. The idea after that was: you have to remain critical of Russia, but you also have to keep giving it some confidence. We’ve given them a lot of credit, but it’s now been misused and wasted. It is even completely gone.”
Eastern Europe has been warning against Putin’s practices for years. Are they not taken seriously?
“We have always been very understanding of the historical position of our eastern neighbours. In fact, we have taken those concerns very seriously. Remember, Germany has been a strong advocate of EU and NATO enlargement to include these countries, who are undeniably part of the European family.”
Is the multi-billion dollar defense spending the beginning of a new, more offensive view of the armed forces?
“New. These are defensive billions, intended to protect our European home. That is not a new philosophy. What we do is meet NATO standards in spending, so that NATO can actually count on us when it comes down to it.”
Former Chancellor Schröder is still close to Putin. Is Russian influence on Germany a cause for concern?
“I think that influence will now diminish. In what was formerly East Germany, there was always more sympathy for Russia. Partly because of the music and literature, the Russian image elsewhere in the country was not fundamentally bad either. That image has been shattered by the attack on Ukraine. This is no longer justifiable in any way.”
After all the violence against Ukraine, is it still possible to reach an agreement with Putin?
“My wife is Finnish and the Finns have learned to live with the Russians like no other. Through a tricky balancing act they managed to remain more or less independent from Russia. They themselves say about this: we have saved the most important, but have to give a lot away. Is such a thing conceivable in Ukraine? Helsinki was also bombed at the time, but in Ukraine the destruction is now many times greater. And so is the pain. You can’t just put that aside.”
Germany also decided to pause Nord Stream II. Is the project dead or can it be revived quickly?
“Nord Stream II is so deep-frozen that you would really need a lot of energy to defrost it. So the project is basically dead. It is no longer in our field of vision. There is absolutely no discussion about resumption. I don’t even see how that could be.”
Can Germany quickly reduce its strong dependence on Russian energy?
“The ambition is to stop importing oil and coal from Russia before the end of this year or next year. Gas will take a little longer. But the policy is now underway. It will not be easy, but economically and technologically we are able to do this tough job.”
Germany was closing nuclear power plants. Will that process be stopped?
“Of the last three nuclear power plants that were to close this year, it is now being examined whether they can remain open longer. The question is whether it is technically possible. You cannot simply switch on a nuclear power plant that is in a shutdown phase.”
In 2011, after the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, nuclear energy was abandoned. Was it a mistake?
“I do not comment on the quality of political decisions. Traditionally, there is very little support for nuclear energy in Germany. So there was a lot of support for the decision at the time. There was great willingness to temporarily accept higher energy prices in exchange for a rapid transition to sustainable energy. Maybe we were overconfident. In any case, the fact that we are now talking about keeping nuclear power plants open for longer is unprecedented in the German context.”