Die Moskau-Connection

THE PIPELINE DEAL: BEHIND THE SCENES OF A DISASTROUS NETWORK

For many years, Germany ignored the danger posed by Putin's regime. It turned a deaf ear to the warnings of its European neighbours and became increasingly dependent on gas and oil from Russia. The result is a severe economic crisis that will reduce the prosperity of the Federal Republic in the long term.

How could it come to this? What role did Gerhard Schröder, as SPD Chancellor and later gas lobbyist, play in this with his extensive network in politics and business? Why did CDU Chancellor Angela Merkel not take a more far-sighted course? What business and political connections, but also what economic and strategic interests led Germany to back Putin, even though he had already waged wars, eliminated the opposition and disregarded freedom and human rights before his invasion of Ukraine? FAZ correspondents Reinhard Bingener and Markus Wehner uncover the Moscow connection in German politics and show how one of the biggest misjudgements of German foreign policy since 1945 became possible.

Hanover - Berlin - Moscow: The big investigation into Gerhard Schröder's disastrous network in politics and business
How dubious honorary consuls, ominous building contractors, ex-Stasi majors and naive détente politicians led Germany into dependence on the Kremlin.
For readers of Catherine Belton's "Putin's Network".