Russia’s war on Ukraine  forced Germany to think differently about its role in the world — Baerbock

The head of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote about this for The Guardian.

Burbock said that after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany not only changed its attitude to threats to its own security, but also accepted its responsibility as a leader on whom its partners could rely.

“Only two years ago, the idea of Germany delivering tanks, air-defence systems and howitzers to a war zone would have seemed far-fetched, to say the least. Today, Germany is one of the leading arms suppliers for Ukraine’s self-defence,” she wrote.

Baerbock believes it was Russian invasion to Ukraine that has fundamentally changed how Berlin perceive threats to its own security, at the heart of Europe. She realises that “Our security is not a given”.

“For too long, we did not listen to the warnings of our eastern neighbours who urged us to take the threats emanating from Russia seriously. We learned that “hoping for the best” is not enough when dealing with an increasingly autocratic leader. Besides all our efforts to construct a European security architecture with Russia, our economic and political interaction also did not sway the Russian regime toward democracy,” she wrote.

According to her, Germany knows that for the foreseeable future, President Putin’s Russia will remain a threat to peace and security on the continent and that Germany has to organise its security against Putin’s Russia, not with it.