This year’s annual Munich Security Conference (MSC), held Feb. 16-18, is going to be a forum for accelerated militarization of the West and preparation for war with Russia—disguised as “defense” against an alleged Russian attack on NATO.
MSC chairman Christoph Heugen, a notorious Putin-hater, urged for increased defense spending in the face of Putin’s alleged plans to restore the Soviet Empire and install himself as new Russian Tsar. As for Germany, Heusgen endorsed the delivery of “Taurus” missiles to Kiev. The West has to prevent Russia from winning the war against Ukraine, and “robust security guarantees are also needed for Ukraine—ideally in the form of NATO membership,” Heusgen said in several newspaper interviews. Because the past has shown that Putin does not stick to agreements, “there is a great risk that Putin will attack again.”
Heusgen both explains this and rejects the accusation that Putin has long been underestimated by Germany. He explained: “We didn’t fall for Putin, he has changed his stance over time.” In particular, after the Eastward expansions of NATO in 2004, Putin said that he did not see Russia’s security threatened by this. But, says Heusgen, “in 2007, he then gave a very tough, brutal speech at the Security Conference in Munich and claimed exactly the opposite. At the same time, his poll ratings got worse and worse, and he responded with an increasingly aggressive approach.”
