Europe is “in a pre-war mood because some rhetorical statements remind me of the rhetoric of the Cold War. People only talk about weapons,” said Juncker in an interview with the “Kleine Zeitung” (Sunday edition). He hopes that the war rhetoric does not lead to a “big war.”
Juncker: “I know Putin well”
At the same time, Juncker explained that it was not Europe’s fault, but was due to “massive misconduct” by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Juncker reported that he knew Putin well. “I’m probably one of the Europeans who talked to him the longest and most intimately. I had conversations with him for hours, even at night, in German, without the involvement of diplomats or interpreters. So I really had him on the grill. And he me.” Now he is “very disappointed”.
He cannot forgive himself for having “lent my ear to his Eastern and Central European friends when they warned of Russian attacks in their part of Europe,” but “immediately closed it again.” He thought they were fundamentally wrong. “But I was fundamentally wrong,” said the former Luxembourg prime minister.
Russian-dominated dictatorship peace must be prevented
When asked whether Putin should not win the war, Jucker answered “Yes, because he (Putin, note) would become even more violent.” This presupposes that the Western Europeans and the Ancients actively support Ukraine. “I’m not a warmonger in the sense that I want only the weapons to talk. I am of the opinion that we have to look for other formats behind the arms front in order to end this war. But it shouldn’t be Russian dominated by dictated peace. This must be prevented.”
The fact that French President Emmanuel Macron was talking about sending troops to Ukrainian soil “surprised him, but not horrified him. There is also a well-considered strategy in this, which says that you shouldn’t tell an adversary who poses as an opponent where “Our own red lines are running. So I’m putting this in the category of tactical movements,” said Juncker, who once again spoke out in favor of a European army. But that is “not an easy thing. Thinking in Europe has remained national. It has to become European.”
