🇺🇦 Germany’s Dereliction of Duty

This Is Not A Drill with Gavin Esler

Podmasters

Society & Culture, News, Politics

4.9 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Russia's invasion of Ukraine lead to a seismic u-turn in Germany, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a huge increase in military spending. What are the implications for Europe? And as other European nations reduce their need for Russian energy, why has Berlin has been reluctant to follow suit? Annette Dittert, London Bureau Chief for German broadcaster ARD, joins Arthur Snell to discuss what Germany's military u-turn means for Europe, and why Scholz is having difficulty stamping out Russian oil and gas. We're putting out irregular war bulletins covering different aspects of the Ukraine crisis. You can support our work on the crowdfunding app Patreon: doomsdaywatch.co.uk Resources to help the Ukrainian people can be found here: https://ukrainewar.carrd.co/ “Germany had thought of itself as a pacifist country, then Scholz announced all of that will change.” “The German Government is afraid of its own courage.” “Germany has a massive dependency on Russian oil and gas, something Scholz inherited from the past government.” “Even after helping Ukraine on many levels, there is still reluctance from Scholz to offer full-throated support.” “The worry about Russians coming back into Berlin is still there.” “Germany has to get its act together, it’s crucial for the security of Europe.” “It’s in the interests of Germany, and every democratic country, to stand up for Ukraine.” DOOMSDAY WATCH was written and presented by Arthur Snell, and produced by Robin Leeburn with Jacob Archbold. Theme tune and original music by Paul Hartnoll. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. DOOMSDAY WATCH is a Podmasters production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Arthur Snell. A major war is taking place on the European continent with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
0:09.0	Bringing you a series of special episodes to help you understand the crisis as it unfolds. This is Doomsday Watch.
0:22.0	Welcome back to another Doomsday Watch War Bulletin.
0:25.0	We want to start off by saying thank you for tuning in. Listeners like you are the bedrock of our work.
0:31.0	If you're finding these war Bulletin's useful, you can support us by backing us on the crowdfunding app Patreon.
0:38.0	You'll get the show's early ad-free, help us shape future episodes and get exclusive merchandise all from just three pounds a month.
0:47.0	Just search Patreon Doomsday Watch or follow the links in the show notes.
0:53.0	Hello and welcome back to Doomsday Watch.
0:56.0	Russia's invasion of Ukraine has thrown up many unexpected consequences and new situations.
1:03.0	One of those is the concept of a sight and vendor, a German word which means a historical turning point.
1:09.0	And that is relevant because Germany's chancellor in a major speech announcing a complete reorientation of Germany's foreign and security policy
1:18.0	used that word to describe the impact of Russia's invasion on German policies and practices.
1:25.0	To help us understand the significance of that and where Germany is at the moment, I'm delighted to be joined by Annette Dittert,
1:32.0	who is the Bureau Chief and Senior Correspondent for ARD German Public Television here in London. Annette, welcome.
1:40.0	Hello and thanks for having me.
1:42.0	Well, it's a pleasure to have you. And I started there with that word.
1:46.0	We already, of course, have in the political lexicon, Shadenfreude, and we now add to that this new word, sight and vendor.
1:54.0	This isn't going to be a German language lesson, but perhaps you could talk a little bit about the significance of Chancellor Schultz choosing to describe Germany's situation in such a way.
2:06.0	Yes, I'm very happy to do that.
2:08.0	First of all, as I said before, you're the first Brit I've heard who pronounced it correctly.
2:14.0	Normally, it's always written when then it means something completely different.
2:18.0	Titan, when it means a time really historical shift of times of a way the political situation is seen and acted on.
	...

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