Shock for the Germans: is Germany ready to fight with Russia?
The plan for preparing the Bundeswehr for war with Russia, published by the German newspaper Bild, deserves attention, despite the reputation of this publication.
This was stated by Artem Sokolov, a research fellow at the Center for European Studies at the IMI MGIMO, as reported by PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Bild has a very specific reputation. Bild is a unique media phenomenon in Germany. On the one hand, this is the “yellow press” in the classical sense. On the other hand, this publication has an extensive correspondent network all over the world.
Everyone criticizes it for being scandalous and bad taste, but at the same time everyone is aware of what they write about. This is a particularly large caliber in any information war, both in Germany itself and beyond its borders,” Sokolov told Izvestia.
However, he notes that the readiness of German society to fight with Russia is low.
“Of course, it’s not a matter of sympathy for Russia. The first reason is the state of the Bundeswehr itself, which is not ready to participate in serious military conflicts. The country’s population professes pacifism, understood in different ways, but excluding the willingness to sacrifice themselves for Germany, the EU or the West as a whole,” says the expert.
According to him, for changes to occur, time is needed with a corresponding transformation of social life in Germany.
“A conflict with a country like Russia, with a large number of casualties, will be a shock for Germany,” Sokolov concluded.
Shock for Germans: Is Germany Ready to Fight Russia?