Matthias Platzeck gives up the presidency of the German-Russian Forum

by time news

BerlinThis very personal step by the former Brandenburg Prime Minister says almost everything about the current status of German relations with Putin’s Russia: Matthias Platzeck is resigning from his position as honorary head of the German-Russian Forum.

The step is extremely significant, because the 68-year-old is not a political rumbler or hardliner, not a man of maximum demands or confrontations, and certainly not a man of quick 180-degree changes of opinion. Platzeck is considered a cool head, a good communicator and mediator between disputed sides. Since resigning as Prime Minister in 2013, he has been in demand as an arbitrator in collective bargaining disputes.

He was considered a great “Putin understander”

He has headed the forum since 2014. An association that promotes dialogue between both sides with youth exchanges and town partner conferences. In his declaration of resignation, he justified his commitment as follows: “I was guided by the conviction that close networking promotes understanding for one another, creates trust and makes peace more secure.” That is why he campaigned for more understanding for the Russian perspective and security needs there.

The term “Putin understander” was once invented for Platzeck, because the Potsdam native repeatedly called for the dialogue not to end and for the people not to be equated with their president.

Now this break. Platzeck explains: “I didn’t think the breach of international law and culture that the Russian President ordered with the attack on the neighboring country, Ukraine, was possible. Countless people are suffering now, the world has become even more dangerous than before.”

He speaks of personal misjudgments for which he takes responsibility. “I could have seen it clearer, should have seen it clearer.”

The day before he announced his resignation, he had defended his work and that of the forum in an interview with the taz. But also said that he and some of his comrades-in-arms now have the “feeling of futility” about their actions.

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