Germany began to depend on Russian gas because of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This was stated by Merkel’s former chief economic adviser Lars-Hendrik Röller in an interview with the Financial Times.
He emphasized that there were advantages to buying gas from Russia. In particular, the German economy was provided with high growth rates that “would not have been possible otherwise,” and Moscow also proved to be a reliable supplier. “As a result, we ended up becoming very dependent on Russian gas—that’s a fact,” Reller said. According to him, if Germany knew what would happen in the future, it would act differently.
At the same time, Reller admitted that Merkel had no other choice given Germany’s abandonment of nuclear energy. It was under her that the authorities decided to close German nuclear power plants. Under Merkel, the country did not properly develop renewable energy, and it was difficult for the government to diversify supplies and build infrastructure for receiving liquefied natural gas due to the “political context of that time,” said Merkel’s ex-adviser.
Earlier, Scholz criticized Merkel’s energy policy, calling Germany’s excessive dependence on Russian gas a mistake. However, Merkel herself rejected such statements.
Reller was an adviser to Merkel from 2011 until 2021, when she resigned. Merkel has led the German government since 2005.
Source: Rosbalt
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