Russia hits out at Germany for Putin 'redrawing map of Europe' remark; 'It's funny...'

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, on October 4 denounced Germany's assertion that Russia has decided to redraw the map of Europe by annexing the Ukrainian territories. "It's funny that this thesis is spoken in Germany," Zakharova said in her response on Telegram and Facebook.

Republic Media Network had earlier reported that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, during her Poland visit asserted that Europe firmly stands against what she described as Russia’s "war of aggression." Baerbock had slammed Russia's President Vladimir Putin’s unilateral attempts to illegally shift Europe's borders and redraw Ukraine's map. 

EU's borders were 'exclusively redrawn in the late 1980s': Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson

Responding to Baerbock's remarks, Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zakharova maintained that such remarks coming from Germany "is funny" as the EU member state's current borders were exclusively "redrawn" in the late 1980s. She was referring to the collapse of then Nazi Germany, and its failed attempt at invasion of the former Soviet Union that culminated in a Unification Treaty. As the Nazi regime collapsed, the Allies occupied Germany. The eastern territories of Germany GDR (East Germany) were ceded to Poland and the Soviet Union and Germany's Oder and Neisse Rivers were declared as the new eastern boundary.

Zakharova reiterated the rise of Nazi Germany around WWII, saying, "Let me recall the main political slogan of Chancellor Willie Brandt, the then leader of Germany's Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD): Jetz wächst zusammen, zusammengehört ("Now unites what is one whole"). The German fascism destroyed half our country and over 25 million of our citizens," the Russian foreign minister said. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson lambasted Germany for accusing Russia of "redrawing the map" of Europe, saying "it's not Berlin to stutter about the 'redrawing' of borders - their historical experience is scary to remember, but it cannot be forgotten either." The Russian Foreign Minister claimed that the eastern European countries turned into sovereign states solely due to the migrants' "crossing" of borders in recent decades. Referring to the then Soviet Red Army's sacrifices and the atrocities faced by citizens during WWII,  Zakharova asserted that Germany must not forget "people who sacrificed so much for Europe in the 20th century."

The Russian official shifted focus to the war in Ukraine, stating that it is unacceptable that such remarks are being issued with respect to the situation in Ukraine. She asserted that the Western military's North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) split Serbia using the cluster bombs on Yugoslavia in 1999 which led to the withdrawal of Yugoslav armed forces from Kosovo. NATO launched an offensive on the Bosnian Serb Army during the war in Bosnia- Herzegovina to fulfil the "American adventure with Kosovo independence," said Zakharova, launching a scathing attack on the West. 

German Minister Annalena Baerbock had slammed Russia's assault on Ukrainian soil, saying that Poland’s immediate neighbour, Putin "has been waging a brutal war of aggression for months now." She hailed Poland for a boycott of Moscow and strong support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.