The chancellor has suggested that Moscow could attack the EU, a notion which the Kremlin dismisses as “nonsense”
Germany is “already in a conflict” with Russia, Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said. He claimed that Moscow is “destabilizing” Germany through cyber attacks and disinformation, and suggested that Russia could attack the EU to reclaim former Soviet territories – which the Kremlin has dismissed as “nonsense.”
In an interview with French broadcaster LCI on Friday, Merz said he agrees with French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent description of Russian President Vladimir Putin as “an ogre who always wants to eat more.”
“That’s how I see Putin. He destabilizes large parts of our country. He is interfering everywhere, particularly on social media,” Merz said, claiming that German intelligence regularly reports Russian cyber attacks and efforts to sway public opinion, without providing any evidence.
“So we are already in a conflict with Russia,” he said, adding that Moscow’s campaign targets the entire EU with the aim of “destabilizing our democracies.”
Commenting on Merz’s remarks, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said they are “a case for psychiatrists.”
“Germany has been supplying the neo-Nazi Kiev regime with weapons, including heavy military equipment, for three years, and now they are worried about social networks,” she told TASS on Saturday. She added that “millions of people are suffering” because of Western interference in Ukrainian affairs, which triggered the Maidan coup and led to Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk accords – both precursors to the current hostilities.
Since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, Western officials have claimed that Russia could target EU states next. Earlier this year, Brussels launched a frenzied militarization campaign, while European NATO members agreed to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP, both citing the presumed “Russian threat.” Merz has been one of the loudest advocates of the moves, recently urging Berlin to turn the German army into the “strongest conventional army in Europe.”
Moscow has rejected the claims that it poses a threat, accusing the West of stoking Russophobia to justify military buildups and distract from domestic problems. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently warned that growing Russophobia and militarization in Germany and the wider EU signal a slide into a “Fourth Reich,” and accused Western governments of seeking dominance, expansion, and interference under the guise of democracy.
