In a televised address broadcast on Monday evening, German Chancellor Angela Merkel commented on the recent Taliban invasion of Kabul in tones. Completely different From the words of US President Joe Biden, who spoke about it in the same hours.
Merkel He said That Germany and other Western countries involved in Afghanistan “mistakenly assessed this situation”, that is, the Taliban’s advance towards Kabul, which occurred much more quickly than expected: “I, too, bear responsibility.” Biden limited his speech to admitting the error to a single paragraph, without assuming any direct responsibility.
In general, Merkel’s speech was more sympathetic than Biden’s. Among other things, Merkel described recent developments as “sad, dramatic and terrifying”, especially for “millions of Afghans who want to live in a more liberal society”. Merkel also recalled the deaths of 59 German soldiers during the German army’s military operations in Afghanistan (Germany was the second largest contingent after the United States): “I think of the pain of the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the fighting: now everything seems to have happened in vain.”
Merkel will leave office and politics in a few weeks, at the end of her term. In the months of the coronavirus pandemic, he has often given very frank and honest speeches about the health emergency, also making himself notable among European leaders in this instance.
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