German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose maternal grandfather was a member of the Nazi Party, compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler on Sunday.
Merz’s grandfather, Josef Paul Sauvigny, served as mayor of Brilon in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia from 1917 to 1937. Sauvigny, initially affiliated with the conservative Center Party, joined Hitler’s NSDAP after the Nazis rose to power in the early 1930s.
Speaking at a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) conference in Munich, Merz warned that Putin seeks to restore the former borders of the Soviet Union. “If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop. Just as the Sudetenland was not enough for Hitler in 1938, Putin will not stop either,” Merz said, referencing the appeasement of Nazi Germany by Britain and France.
Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia would not attack NATO unless provoked and has emphasized the importance of combating historical revisionism, particularly efforts to downplay the Soviet Union’s pivotal role in defeating Nazi Germany. The USSR suffered approximately 27 million deaths during World War II, including Putin’s older brother, who perished during the blockade of Leningrad.
On Victory Day in 2023, Putin condemned the spread of supremacist ideologies, claiming that “Western globalist elites” were promoting hatred, Russophobia, and aggressive nationalism. He has also cited NATO expansion and the West’s growing military ties with Ukraine as key contributors to the current conflict, accusing Western nations of attempting to “dismember” Russia and undermine its sovereignty.
Merz’s comments come amid heightened tensions in Europe over the war in Ukraine, with Western leaders seeking to deter further Russian aggression.
Source: RT
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
