Putin’s old dog learns new trick

Ex-German chancellor Gerhard Schröder came to Helsinki a couple of weeks ago and took the opportunity to praise the celebrated Russian-German gas pipeline and repeat his famous opinion of Vladimir Putin: "He [Putin] is an exemplary (lupenrein) democrat."

Hiring this three-times-divorced, debt-ridden senior citizen to lend a hand was a cunning move on Volodja’s part as well as a handsome gesture to international friendship.

It has been amply repaid by Schröder’s loyalty, which shows itself when things get tough. Thus when his boss the "exemplary democrat" unleashed his Jugend-Organisation to bully the Estonian and Swedish ambassadors in Moscow, and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves had the cheek to observe that civilised countries respected the 1961 Vienna Convention, Gerd was immediately out there defending his boss and accusing the Estonians of "tactless and insolent" acts. Full marks for earning your salary, Gerd. Whatever it is, it’s not enough. You are better than any guard-dog. Woof, woof!

In today’s Russia, nothing happens without the approval, tacit or otherwise, of the Kremlin. (So the Putin-Jugend were of course free to respond spontaneously to all that tactlessness and insolence by horsing around and smashing windows as much as they wished). Of course the Estonians were provoking the Russians by removing their Bronze Soldier just after ‘Victory Day’, 9 May. But it does not seem quite such a terrible crime when you consider that for most Eastern Europeans that date marked the beginning of 50 years of deportations, terror and tedium ­- if you were lucky.

Students of Russian history will know that its rulers never admit they are wrong about anything, ever. They will certainly not be rethinking the Second World War any time soon, or admitting that Russia ended up on the winning side despite Stalin, not because of him.

The European Union is less robust about sticking up for itself, particularly when it comes to defending its smaller member states. Will it get any tougher as the Russian elections move into full swing? The campaign is a time when the past is always raided for foreign enemies against which Mother Russia can be called on to unite. Estonia was surely only the first to be pulled out of this treasure trove.

We understand, up North. But we are puzzled that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s reactions have verged on indifference. Does she not know something about Stalinist methods, given her reportedly enthusiastic membership of the wittily-named, now-disbanded, Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ)? Or does Volodja, whose old job was spooking the DDR, also disbanded, know something embarrassing about Angela’s time as FDJ secretary for Agitation and Propaganda at the Academy of Science? Even if he does, dear Angela, please reassure us that the Russian-German pipeline does not prevent a genuflection, however discreet, to European unity and fraternity. Just for old time’s sake.

Ex-German chancellor Gerhard Schröder came to Helsinki a couple of weeks ago and took the opportunity to praise the celebrated Russian-German gas pipeline and repeat his famous opinion of Vladimir Putin: "He [Putin] is an exemplary (lupenrein) democrat."

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