In May of 2014, an article appeared in The Economist entitled, "Germany and Russia : How Very Understanding"
This article goes on to explain the attachment of the German word, "versteher " to Putin. Specifically it points out that,
"The label is now being attached to so-called Russlandversteher or Putinversteher:
members of the [German] elite or intelligentsia who gush with empathy for Russia
and its president, Vladimir Putin, on talk shows, in journals and at
dinner parties.
They include two former [German] Social Democratic chancellors. In the newspaper Die Zeit, Helmut Schmidt (left: with Putin) said Mr Putin’s annexation of Crimea was not quite “legitimate” but certainly “understandable”.
Like Putin, who in March of 2017 said that,
"... the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was purely economic and not directed against other countries, as he met the head of German chemicals group BASF, a potential partner in the project" (Reuters: March 22, 2017),
we also have Angela Merkel, the Putinversteher, arguing that,
“We think this is an economic project. We are also for energy diversification. We also want Ukraine to continue to have transit gas traffic, but we believe Nord Stream poses no danger to diversification,” she said" (Joseph Nasr & Noah Barkin : Reuters : February 16, 2018) (my emphasis)
And so,
"Germany has approved the construction and operation of the Russia-built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, its operator and the German maritime authority said on Tuesday.
...
The Nord Stream 2 operator said it expected that other four countries along the route of the undersea gas pipeline – Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark – will issue permits in the coming months." (Reuters : March 27, 2018) (my emphasis)
Unfortunately, however, whilst Finland has recently given Putin permission "to use the Finnish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the construction of the pipeline", little Denmark finds itself in a real political quandary over whether it, too, should allow Putin's gas pipeline to cross through its territorial waters.
As reported by Stine Jacobsen and Alissa de Carbonnel (left),
"The Danish government is facing fierce lobbying by Russia, EU allies and the United States over the 9.5 billion euro ($11.7 billion) Nord Stream 2 project championed by President Vladimir Putin and financed by five Western firms.
...
A Danish veto, under new legislation allowing it to do so on security grounds, would force Russia, which supplies about one third of Europe’s gas needs, to find a new route for the pipeline.
...
“This is not about gas, it is one of the most important foreign policy decisions in Denmark since the Cold War,” said senior foreign policy researcher Hans Mouritzen at the Danish Institute for International Studies." (Reuters : March 26, 2018) (my emphasis)
And whilst Denmark is agonizing over whether it should grant Putin a permit to allow his Nord Stream 2 pipeline into their territorial waters, Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, continues in his efforts to get a UN mandate for UN peacekeepers in the Donbas.
"Answering a question [in an interview with Handelsblatt] on how Berlin and Brussels should act in this regard, the president said: "They should urgently ensure that we can get the mandate from the UN Security Council. Plus it's about ceasefire... After all, amid the ongoing hostilities, peacekeepers will not be able to deploy there. And our Western partners should further realize that sanctions are an extremely effective tool - only they can force Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. If the Russian aggression continues, sanctions will need to be strengthened." (UNIAN : 9 April, 2018) (my emphasis)
Adding to Poroshenko's call for UN peacekeepers to be deployed throughout the Donbas,
"Turkey is ready to participate in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in
Donbass, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's press service said
Monday following a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
...
"President Petro Poroshenko informed the Turkish side on the situation in Donbass. … Turkey welcomed the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the occupied area of Donbass and stated willingness to take part in this mission," the statement said." (Daily Sabah : 10 April, 2018) (my emphasis)
Against the backdrop of Poroshenko's efforts to bring peace to the Donbas,
" Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 35 times in the past 24 hours, with three Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA)." (UNIAN : 10 April, 2018) (my emphasis)
Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline is an integral part of his war with Ukraine and, as Darius McQuaid reports,
"The [Nord Stream 2] pipeline will double the amount of Russian gas arriving in Germany and Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is behind the pipeline, already accounts for around one third of European gas supply.
Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko said the project is “political bribe money for [German] loyalty to Russia.”
He told German business paper Handelsblat the pipeline holds “no economic justification” but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the pipeline by saying it is a purely “economic project”. (Express : April 9, 2018) (my emphasis)
And now we await the Danish decision on whether to grant Putin permission for his Nord Stream 2 pipeline to cross through their territorial waters, just as we await the decision of the UN whether to grant Ukraine's call for a UN peacekeeping forces to patrol throughout the Donbas.
Denmark now has the power to immediately stop Putin's Nord Stream 2 dead in its tracks.
(to be continued)
Addendum: 11 April, 2018
In my blog entry of 22-4-2015, I wrote that,
"Former Polish President Lech Walesa (right) is more cautious, however. He argues that,
"..the West should confront Russian President Vladimir Putin with its own arsenal of nuclear weapons to curb what he called Russian aggression." (International Business Times : April 08 2015) (my emphasis)
Let us remind ourselves that, as Julian Isherwood reported in March,
"Russia has gone on the offensive in the Baltic, warning Denmark that if
it joins Nato’s missile defence shield, its navy will be a legitimate
target for a Russian nuclear attack." (The Telegraph : 21 Mar 2015) (my emphasis)"
One can now only hope that the Danish Parliament's decision about permission for the Nord Stream Pipeline2 to pass through their territorial waters will not be clouded by Putin's 2015 threat about them becoming a legitimate target for a Russian nuclear attack.
This article goes on to explain the attachment of the German word, "versteher " to Putin. Specifically it points out that,
"The label is now being attached to so-called Russlandversteher or Putinversteher:
members of the [German] elite or intelligentsia who gush with empathy for Russia
and its president, Vladimir Putin, on talk shows, in journals and at
dinner parties.They include two former [German] Social Democratic chancellors. In the newspaper Die Zeit, Helmut Schmidt (left: with Putin) said Mr Putin’s annexation of Crimea was not quite “legitimate” but certainly “understandable”.
Like Putin, who in March of 2017 said that,
"... the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was purely economic and not directed against other countries, as he met the head of German chemicals group BASF, a potential partner in the project" (Reuters: March 22, 2017),
we also have Angela Merkel, the Putinversteher, arguing that,
“We think this is an economic project. We are also for energy diversification. We also want Ukraine to continue to have transit gas traffic, but we believe Nord Stream poses no danger to diversification,” she said" (Joseph Nasr & Noah Barkin : Reuters : February 16, 2018) (my emphasis)
And so,
"Germany has approved the construction and operation of the Russia-built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, its operator and the German maritime authority said on Tuesday.
...
The Nord Stream 2 operator said it expected that other four countries along the route of the undersea gas pipeline – Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark – will issue permits in the coming months." (Reuters : March 27, 2018) (my emphasis)
As reported by Stine Jacobsen and Alissa de Carbonnel (left),"The Danish government is facing fierce lobbying by Russia, EU allies and the United States over the 9.5 billion euro ($11.7 billion) Nord Stream 2 project championed by President Vladimir Putin and financed by five Western firms.
...
A Danish veto, under new legislation allowing it to do so on security grounds, would force Russia, which supplies about one third of Europe’s gas needs, to find a new route for the pipeline.
...
“This is not about gas, it is one of the most important foreign policy decisions in Denmark since the Cold War,” said senior foreign policy researcher Hans Mouritzen at the Danish Institute for International Studies." (Reuters : March 26, 2018) (my emphasis)
And whilst Denmark is agonizing over whether it should grant Putin a permit to allow his Nord Stream 2 pipeline into their territorial waters, Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, continues in his efforts to get a UN mandate for UN peacekeepers in the Donbas.
"Answering a question [in an interview with Handelsblatt] on how Berlin and Brussels should act in this regard, the president said: "They should urgently ensure that we can get the mandate from the UN Security Council. Plus it's about ceasefire... After all, amid the ongoing hostilities, peacekeepers will not be able to deploy there. And our Western partners should further realize that sanctions are an extremely effective tool - only they can force Putin to sit down at the negotiating table. If the Russian aggression continues, sanctions will need to be strengthened." (UNIAN : 9 April, 2018) (my emphasis)Adding to Poroshenko's call for UN peacekeepers to be deployed throughout the Donbas,
"Turkey is ready to participate in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in
Donbass, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's press service said
Monday following a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
...
"President Petro Poroshenko informed the Turkish side on the situation in Donbass. … Turkey welcomed the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the occupied area of Donbass and stated willingness to take part in this mission," the statement said." (Daily Sabah : 10 April, 2018) (my emphasis)
Against the backdrop of Poroshenko's efforts to bring peace to the Donbas,
" Russia's hybrid military forces attacked Ukrainian army positions in Donbas 35 times in the past 24 hours, with three Ukrainian soldiers reported as wounded in action (WIA)." (UNIAN : 10 April, 2018) (my emphasis)Putin's Nord Stream 2 pipeline is an integral part of his war with Ukraine and, as Darius McQuaid reports,
"The [Nord Stream 2] pipeline will double the amount of Russian gas arriving in Germany and Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is behind the pipeline, already accounts for around one third of European gas supply.Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko said the project is “political bribe money for [German] loyalty to Russia.”
He told German business paper Handelsblat the pipeline holds “no economic justification” but German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the pipeline by saying it is a purely “economic project”. (Express : April 9, 2018) (my emphasis)
And now we await the Danish decision on whether to grant Putin permission for his Nord Stream 2 pipeline to cross through their territorial waters, just as we await the decision of the UN whether to grant Ukraine's call for a UN peacekeeping forces to patrol throughout the Donbas.
Denmark now has the power to immediately stop Putin's Nord Stream 2 dead in its tracks.
Addendum: 11 April, 2018
In my blog entry of 22-4-2015, I wrote that,
"Former Polish President Lech Walesa (right) is more cautious, however. He argues that,"..the West should confront Russian President Vladimir Putin with its own arsenal of nuclear weapons to curb what he called Russian aggression." (International Business Times : April 08 2015) (my emphasis)
Let us remind ourselves that, as Julian Isherwood reported in March,
"Russia has gone on the offensive in the Baltic, warning Denmark that if
it joins Nato’s missile defence shield, its navy will be a legitimate
target for a Russian nuclear attack." (The Telegraph : 21 Mar 2015) (my emphasis)" One can now only hope that the Danish Parliament's decision about permission for the Nord Stream Pipeline2 to pass through their territorial waters will not be clouded by Putin's 2015 threat about them becoming a legitimate target for a Russian nuclear attack.
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