CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 04/2015

LE MONDE GERMANY MEETS RUSSIA
The Ambassadors‘ Summit
“The ball is in the air. At the moment we don‘t know exactly where it will land.“
Interview: Rainer Himmelfreundpointner
Johannes K. Haindl, the Ambassador of Germany to Austria, and
Dmitry E. Lyubinskiy, Russia‘s representative in Vienna, sit down to
discuss the utterly tense relations between their countries.
DMITRY E. LYUBINSKIY
JOHANNES K. HAINDL
PHOTO: RALPH MANFREDA
Never since World War II have
Germany and Russia been more
alienated than now as a result of
the EU sanctions following the annexion of
the Crimea and Moscow‘s role in Ukrainian
crisis. Has their long way of reconciliation
which has already entered into a strategic
partnership finally reached a dead end? Is
there a way out of this rock bottom in the
relationship between these two countries?
Would an approximation of the EU and the
Eurasian Economic Union lead to a new
path of friendship? „Cercle Diplomatique“
proudly welcomes the Ambassadors of
Germany and Russia to Austria to this
exclusive summit discussion.
CD: Ambassador Haindl, Ambassador Lyubinskiy,
you represent two countries with a very long
alternating shared history and have become close
friends again after the bitter enmity after the
Second World War. About 400,000 Germans live
in Russia, about 6,200 German companies are
active in Russia today and employ about 300,000
people. Educational and cultural collaboration is
extremely active, about 1.8 million Russians are
learning German, there are hundreds of partner
schools and strong cultural, humanistic relations.
But how was the conflict in Ukraine able to make
German-Russian relations hit rock bottom?
Haindl: The relations between Russia and
Germany are of a special quality thanks to
their history. It is quite extraordinary how
strong they became after the end of the
Cold War. But they have recently become
very strained. Our international order is
based on the principles we agreed on in the
Helsinki Process. And we have to ensure
that based on these principles Russia also
plays a role as a partner for peace in Europe,
which it has to play because of its significance,
geographic location and economic
position.
Lyubinskiy: Thank you for inviting me today.
I find it remarkable that the ambassadors
of Russia and Germany have been invited
to participate in a joint interview in
Vienna. I have been involved in our bilateral
relations for about twenty years and I
am convinced that these relations affect the
atmosphere in Europe. It is of utmost importance
to continue talking to each other
especially in difficult times although the
relationship between Russia and Europe is
not the best at the moment. However, political
contacts between Russia and Germany
are still tight. One example of this is the revival
of the work of the Russian-German
discussion forum “Petersburg Dialogue”.
The German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter
Steinmeier has said that the relations between
your two countries are experiencing their most
serious crisis since the Second World War. And
the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov even
warned that “Germans and Russians should not
become alienated.” Where exactly – from the
Ukrainian crisis to the Crimean question through
to the sanctions – are the main issues of your
problems with each other?
Lyubinskiy: At the moment a lot depends
on the Ukrainian question. Russia and
Germany in particular, along with our
French and Ukrainian partners, are participating
in a format where the relevant discussions
are taking place – the Normandy
Talks – in order to implement the Minsk
Agreements adopted in February 2015,
which for all parties is an acceptable compromise.
I am confident that Russia and
Germany together with our partners will
be able to push forward the process. We
now have to pool all of our strengths to implement
the Minsk Agreements. There is
no other better way.
Yet the original deadline at the end of 2015 had to
be extended.
Serving as the new Ambassador of the Russian
Federation to Austria since August 2015, Lyubinskiy,
born 1967, already served as Russia‘s envoy in Vienna
between 2005-2008. He was educated at Moscow‘s
Diplomatic University during the Perestroika period
and is regarded as an expert in German-Russian
relations.
46 Cercle Diplomatique 4/2015
Born in Munich in 1956, Haindl since July 2015 serves
as Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to
Austria. Prior to that he was representing his country
in the EU‘s ”Political and Security Committee“ after
diplomatic positions in Southeastern Europe, Turkey
and the United States. Haindl studied law and worked
as a journalist for the Bavarian Broadcasting Service
before entering Diplomatic Service.
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