ВестникЕФЭ-1-2020-eng 26.02.2020 16:42 Страница 48
Special opinion
RUSSIAN-GERMAN ECONOMIC RELATIONS IN THE FAST-PACED WORLD The beginning of this year put the world in a nearly pre-war situation affecting the global markets at once. The reason is well-known: by order of the President of the USA one of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran General Qasem Soleimani was killed in Bagdad together with 10 military men from Iran and Iraq. Many were puzzled with the question: what is going to happen after this precedent when one country without approval of any other, without permission of the UN can now liquidate undesirable people and even whole groups on the territory of another sovereign country? Iran’s missile counterattacks on American military bases in Iraq turned out to be quite deliberative and precise. It allowed Washington to “save face” avoiding a large military conflict. However the critical voltage led to the tragedy of the Ukrainian airplane crash and the loss of many innocent lives. Despite the fact that the EU official bodies lined up with the actions of the American administration many people in the business circles of Germany were talking quite openly about the volatility and the forceful unilateral character of the US actions. Germany has long been worried about the threats of sanctions and the sanctions imposed by Washington towards the EU and some European
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companies. And even some American public figures declare now that the sanctions against the project “Nord Stream2” are directed not against Gazprom and Russia but more against the European companies participating – financially and technically – in the construction of this object important for the energy security of the whole Europe. The sanctions hit one of the backbones of the German economy – automobile production as well as agriculture and processing sectors. Almost every communication with the European entrepreneurs begins with their complains of the “terrible Trump”. At the same time more and more people believe that if Donald Trump wasn’t the American President the Americans would still consider the European and first of all German industry as one of the bitterest rivals and not only as a partner in NATO and a like-minded liberal. Part of business society calls to turn to other markets first of all in the East. However on the one hand Germany fears the Chinese incentive “One Belt One Road” cursed as a Chinese overwhelming expansion by the Western mass media who secretly salute the trade war launched by Washington towards Beijing, and on the other hand the political class in Germany is not ready to change the sanction regime against Russia. And they
keep trotting out the requirement that Russia leaves Donbass as if after that all sanctions would be removed. At the same time there is still no answer to the question: What is going to happen if Donbass returns to Ukraine but the sanctions remain. The sentiments in the East and in the West of Germany are clear. Recently Michael Kretschmer, Prime-Minister of the federal land Saxony, Angela Merkel’s team-mate, demanded to remove sanctions against Russia as ineffective and counterproductive for the German economy. The Saxony industry has long been asking for broader economic cooperation with our country. Another latter example: Sigmar Gabriel, a prominent social democrat, former Vice-Chancellor has been recently elected to the Board of Directors of the largest German bank Deutsche Bank. Mass media reacted immediately: what if it’s a crack-down on democracy, a corruption scheme, and what does Gabriel know about banking management? Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing in his announcement tried to calm down the irritated critics. He said that Gabriel’s priceless experience as the Minister of Economy, Foreign Minister and Environment Minister will contribute to the effectiveness of the credit institute. He also pointed out that Gabriel’s trans-At-
