Relations between Berlin and Moscow are nowhere near a crisis point but German Chancellor Angela Merkel must avoid further escalation after the recent scandal with the murder of a Georgian national in Berlin, two German lawmakers told Sputnik on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) Relations between Berlin and Moscow are nowhere near a crisis point but German Chancellor Angela Merkel must avoid further escalation after the recent scandal with the murder of a Georgian national in Berlin, two German lawmakers told Sputnik on Friday.Germany has accused Russia of being involved in the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a Georgian national of Chechen descent, who was killed on August 23 in Berlin. On December 4, the German Foreign Ministry expelled two Russian diplomats. Russia followed suit eight days later.
"The credibility of the German depiction of the brutal Tiergarten assassination is not really high, since the details, revealed by the Russian side, are more convincing than the explanations heard in Berlin.� For example, even German authorities declared later that the murdered Georgian national was a dangerous Islamist. So, the Tiergarten incident has the potential of a typical provocation, and Mrs. Merkel and her foreign minister must avoid any further escalation," Dr. Alexander Neu, Die Linke's party spokesman in the Bundestag Defense Committee, told Sputnik.
Dr. Neu stated that Berlin must take an unbiased position toward Moscow and be free from the influence of other foreign countries in NATO, particularly with regards to the imposition of sanctions on Russia. This could potentially open the door to a new period of cooperation at all levels of politics between the two countries, the Die Linke spokesman said.
Other German lawmakers believe that the situation will not get worse, and that the most recent flare-up in tensions between Germany and Russia is merely an overreaction by the media.
"There is no need to worry that the relationship between Russia and Germany will get worse. We are far away from calling the latest development a crisis. I wouldn't overestimate the expulsion of German diplomats from Russia. This is a natural reaction and was foreseeable," Dr. Anton Friesen, a member of the German Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee, representing the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, told Sputnik.
On December 4, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer argued that there was strong evidence that Russia was complicit in the murder of Khangoshvili, an incident that was complicating relations between Berlin and Moscow. Dr. Neu slammed the defense minister's comments.
"The new military minister and CDU chairwoman Kramp-Karrenbauer should not be allowed to play a role as a would-be vice-foreign minister, because she is completely lacking experience in this field and does only follow a confrontational course against Russia," Dr. Neu remarked.
The Die Linke spokesman also stated that Germany has maintained a confrontational relationship toward Russia since 2013, despite publicly supporting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and reviving the Normandy Four agreements regarding the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
