![]() ![]() Through interviews and a review of social media posts and other publicly available information, Reuters has established the identities of key figures involved in pushing a pro-Moscow stance inside Germany since the war began, including the two men hovering near the stage in Cologne. The stakes are high: if Germany, the European Union’s biggest economy, turns its back on Kyiv, European unity over the war will fracture. That message taps into deep connections between Germany and Russia, with several million Russian speakers living in Germany, a legacy of Soviet ties to Communist east Germany, and decades of German dependency on Russian gas.Įlena Kolbasnikova (centre) is the public face of some anti-war protests. ![]() The rally was just one of many occasions - online and on the streets - where people have clamoured that Berlin should reconsider its support for Ukraine. One protester tried to persuade a police officer to arrest the reporter as a Ukrainian spy. Most declined to speak when approached by a Reuters reporter. The rally’s organisers did not welcome questions. A few metres away, a burly man in dark sunglasses stood guard. The crowd clapped and waved Russian and German flags.Ī lean man in camouflage trousers stood at the side of the stage, obscured from the crowd by a tarpaulin. “We must stop being vassals of the Americans,” right-wing German politician Markus Beisicht said from a makeshift stage on the back of a truck. In a square beneath the twin spires of Cologne’s gothic cathedral, around 2,000 protesters gathered in September to urge Germany’s government to break with the Western coalition backing Ukraine and make peace with Russia. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |