Viktor Orbán and Angela Merkel during their October 1 meeting in Budapest.
Polish and Baltic state politicians have taken to social media to vent their outrage over Angela Merkel’s suggestion, namely, that in 2021 it was them who have blocked an agreement with Russia that could have prevented the war with Ukraine.
In an interview during the former German chancellor’s visit to Budapest on October 1, a journalist from the Hungarian Partizán news blog has recalled Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s words, according to which, if she had been chancellor, Putin would not have dared to attack Ukraine in 2022. Angela Merkel called the question “speculative”, but claimed that the coronavirus played a crucial role in how things panned out. However, even back then, she has already realized that there is a need both for strengthening Europe militarily as well as for finding a diplomatic solution.
In 2015, the Ukrainians were surrounded in Debaltseve, so French President Francois Hollande and she got together to find a diplomatic solution to the situation, which has resulted in the signing of the Minsk Agreement, she recalled. When the Hungarian journalist put it to her that in 2021 she personally tried to negotiate with Putin, but there were parties who have reportedly prevented this, Merkel replied:
I wanted the EU to negotiate directly with Putin. Many did not support this, especially the Baltic states, but Poland was also against. They feared that we would not be able to develop a common policy towards Russia.”
By her analysis Merkel implied that Poland and the three Baltic states bear direct political responsibility for the collapse of diplomatic channels between Russia and the EU that may have subsequently played a role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Angry statements from Poland’s politicians were not long in coming. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, European Affairs Advisor to the President of Poland called Merkel’s statement “shocking”. Journalist Konrad Kołodziejski claimed that Merkel was ready to sacrifice not only Ukraine, but also Poland as a price for an agreement with Putin. Polish MP Piotr Uściński has called Merkel’s opinion a “dumb thesis of German historiography”.
But it was Mateusz Morawiecki, former Polish Prime Minister in the said period of 2021 who went on a long tirade on X trying to disprove Merkel’s theory. In a long post he accused her of being an “open lobbyist for Putin” and “pro-Russian”.
ENG VERSION
Has Angela Merkel already received flowers from Putin?
Let’s take a closer lookThe retired German Chancellor, who ruled for 16 years, was once considered one of Europe’s strongest leaders. After the compromised tenure of Gerhard Schröder — now an open…
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) October 6, 2025
Angela Merkel “remains among the most harmful German politicians of this century”, the Polish politicians claimed. “Her policies made Europe dependent on Russian energy, opened its borders to millions of potentially dangerous migrants, and disarmed the continent militarily, energetically, technologically, and culturally — under the banner of multicultural tolerance… Yet it was precisely her decisions that led to Russia’s ability to blackmail Europe through energy… After Merkel’s 2011 decision to shut down Germany’s nuclear power plants, the country became even more dependent on Russian gas, pointed out Morawiecki.
He continued to say that “Merkel’s signature style — framing strategic decisions as “inevitable” — left Germany defenseless against Russia’s weaponization of energy. She pretended there was “no alternative” until Putin wrote the script himself. Its finale: the invasion of Ukraine and a pan-European energy crisis that fueled inflation across the continent — including in Poland.” Finally, the former Polish PM accuses Angela Merkel of a “grotesque” reversal of victim and perpetrator.
There were countless other reactions from Polish and Baltic politicians protesting against Merkel’s interpretation of the events of 2021-22, yet the ferocity of opposition shows that the German politician has hit a nerve with said countries, who are still vehemently opposed to a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine, and continue to believe that military aid, even direct NATO intervention could reverse Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield.
Featured Image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Kommunikációs Főosztály/Fischer Zoltán
The post Poland Up in Arms Over Angela Merkel’s Hungarian Interview appeared first on Hungary Today.
