Open Letter from Jeffrey Sachs: "Learn History, Mr Chancellor!" (Source and Article)

"The American economist Jeffrey Sachs outlines ways for Friedrich Merz on how diplomacy could end the war in Ukraine. The letter in full.

Dear Chancellor Merz,

You have repeatedly spoken of Germany's responsibility for European security. This responsibility cannot be replaced by slogans, selective memory, or the normalisation of war rhetoric. Security guarantees are not one-way streets. They work both ways. This is neither a Russian nor an American argument; it is a fundamental principle of European security, explicitly enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act, the OSCE framework, and decades of post-war diplomacy.

Germany is obliged to approach this moment with historical seriousness and honesty. In this regard, your recent rhetoric falls dangerously short of expectations.

Since 1990, Russia's central security concerns have been repeatedly ignored, diluted, or directly violated – often with active involvement or tolerance from Germany. This history must not be erased if the war in Ukraine is to end, and it must not be ignored if Europe wants to avoid a permanent state of confrontation.

At the end of the Cold War, Germany repeatedly and unequivocally assured the Soviet and later Russian leadership that NATO would not expand eastward. These assurances were made in the context of German reunification. Germany benefited enormously from this. The rapid reunification of Germany – within NATO – would not have been possible without the Soviet consent based on these assurances. To later pretend that these assurances were meaningless or merely casual remarks is not realistic but revisionist."

Source: Verschwörungen 🌍