The German army's Freudian slip
A naval commander has embarrassed the German political establishment.
The background
As I reported on Monday, the week got off to a dreadful start for Germany on the diplomatic front after a video went viral over the weekend in which the head of the German navy said that the west should give Vladimir Putin “the respect he deserves.”
In the video, vice-admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach also dismissed the threat of a Russian invasion as “nonsense.”
The Ukrainians were livid. Their ambassador to Berlin didn’t hold back from drawing the most grim of all historical parallels: “This patronizing attitude subconsciously reminds Ukrainians of the horrors of the Nazi occupation, when Ukrainians were treated as subhuman,” he said.
Schönbach offered his resignation, but things only went downhill from there.
On Wednesday, the Defence Ministry made its big announcement: it was sending 5,000 helmets to Ukraine, what it described as “a very clear signal” of solidarity.
Mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, responded with withering sarcasm. Would the next delivery be…
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