Germany's claim of 'protecting European unity' - Analysis

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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Sunday that "the war President Vladimir Putin is waging against Ukraine is also a war against the unity of Europe."

"We must not let ourselves be divided, we must not let the great work of a united Europe that we have begun so promisingly be destroyed," he said in a speech. 

"This war is not just about the territory of Ukraine, it is about the double shared foundation of our values and our order of peace," he said.

According to the German President, defending these "values" also entails preparedness to "accept significant disadvantages." 

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"Are we ready for that? We are all facing this question – today and in the days, weeks, and months to come," Steinmeier said.

"Russia is not only questioning the borders, it is not only occupying the territories of an independent and sovereign neighboring state, it is even challenging the statehood of Ukraine," he added.

Evaluating Steinmeier's claims

Europe's actions against Russia have come to hurt Europe more than Russia - the comprehensive sanctions against Moscow have set Europe on a search-for-gas frenzy to no avail, but Germany takes the cake in the disaster that is coming for it. 

It is enough that experts are raising concerns that Russian gas is irreplaceable - the rhetoric in Berlin only seems to give off a macho silhouette, with consistent condemnation and embargoes against Russia in the media - however, the reality only seems to tell the opposite. Germany is costing itself years of a relationship build-up with Russia, only to bring itself to the brink of recession. 

The fact that 50% of German civilians believe that sanctions harm them more than they harm Russia, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's striking statement that "sanctions had no effect on Russia, whereas Europe lost 4 governments," paint a very different reality than the one Steinmeier is attempting to describe.

The strongest economy in Europe is bound to collapse. If the cornerstone of western European unity is on its way to a slow, painful economic downfall, what has been left for Europe's weaker economies?

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Last week, reports arose that large-scale German factories - such as ThyssenKrupp, BASF, and SKW Stickstoffwerke Piesteritz - are weighing decreasing production or even shutting down amid the gas crisis in the country. 

Since the start of the war in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions by the West, gas supplies to Europe have tightened and fuel costs have increased six-fold, leaving countries scrambling to refill storage and look for other supply channels. 

Orban, whose country is part of the EU, recently remarked, "Initially, I thought we had only shot ourselves in the foot, but now it is clear that the European economy has shot itself in the lungs, and it is gasping for air."

The Hungarian PM said European leaders should rethink their strategy, due to the widespread damage caused to the European economy.

"The sanctions do not help Ukraine, however, they are bad for the European economy and if it goes on like this, they will kill off the European economy," he said. "What we see right now is unbearable."

"The moment of truth must come in Brussels when leaders admit they have made a miscalculation, that the sanctions policy was based on wrong assumptions and it must be changed."

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