policy making principle putting business first, not military power well, suddenly it looked like weakness. chancellor olaf scholz promised dramatic change. my guest is state secretary for economic cooperation niels annen. so, has germany got a new strategic vision? niels annen, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure. well, it s great to be here. let s start with the war in ukraine. i think there s no doubt that putin s invasion of ukraine shocked germany. would it be fair to say it has also destabilised germany? no, i don t think so. but it certainly shocked germany because a lot of our economic model was based on the assumption that we would continue using cheap russian natural gas. and it was also based in a kind of historic, should i say, historic experience that although russia was a competitor and an enemy in the cold war, it was always also, in economic terms, a quite reliable partner. and i think that was somehow, you know, seen as a constant policy. and we did n
well, my guest today is the influential chair of the german parliament s defence committee, marie agnes strack zimmermann. so, is germany ready to leave its pacifism behind and project its military power? marie agnes strack zimmerman, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for the invitation. well, it s a pleasure to be here. let s start with that word that olaf schulz used right after putin s invasion of ukraine, zeitenwende . he promised it would be that word, a turning point for germany and its strategic thinking. more than a year later, do we see real evidence of that turning point, that zeitenwende? yes, yes, definitely we see it. it s a really important word, but it s, of course, not only a word, you need it in your mind. um, first of all, we have now the 100 billion euros for the bundeswehr. this is really important, more money for our army. we are looking for it for years. you said not so long ago that the german army has been bled dry. so now it s the right direct
is the influential chair of the german parliament s defence committee, marie agnes strack zimmermann. so, is germany ready to leave its pacifism behind and project its military power? marie agnes strack zimmerman, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for the invitation. well, it s a pleasure to be here. let s start with that word that olaf schulz used right after putin s invasion of ukraine, zeitenwende . he promised it would be that word, a turning point for germany and its strategic thinking. more than a year later, do we see real evidence of that turning point, that zeitenwende? yes, yes, definitely we see it. it s a really important word, but it s, of course, not only a word, you need it in your mind. um, first of all, we have now the 100 billion euros for the bundeswehr. this is really important, more money for our army. we are looking for it for years. you said not so long ago that the german army has been bled dry. so now it s the right direction. but that s an ex
chancellor olaf scholz promised dramatic change. my guest is the state secretary for economic cooperation niels annen. so has germany got a new strategic vision? niels annen, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure. it is great to be here. let s start with the war in ukraine. i think there is no doubt that putin s invasion of ukraine shocked germany. would it be fair to say it has also destabilised germany? no, i don t think so but it certainly shocked germany because a lot of our economic model was based on the assumption that we would continue using cheap russian natural gas and it was also based in a kind of historic, i want to say historic experience that although russia was a competitor and an enemy in the cold war, it was always also in economic terms quite a reliable partner. i think that was somehow, you know, is seen as a constant policy, and we did not really realise that it is not the soviet union anymore, it is a brutal dictator and an unpredictable dictator. but
my guest is state secretary for economic cooperation niels annen. so, has germany got a new strategic vision? niels annen, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure. well, it s great to be here. let s start with the war in ukraine. i think there s no doubt that putin s invasion of ukraine shocked germany. would it be fair to say it has also destabilised germany? no, i don t think so. but it certainly shocked germany because a lot of our economic model was based on the assumption that we would continue using cheap russian natural gas. and it was also based in a kind of historic, should i say, historic experience that although russia was a competitor and an enemy in the cold war, it was always also, in economic terms, a quite reliable partner. and i think that was somehow, you know, seen as a constant policy. and we did not really realise that it s not the soviet union any more. it s a brutal dictator and an unpredictable dictator. but what you ve just described is a very big de