BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed concern over the development of democracy in Russia in an interview released on Saturday, taking a decidedly cooler stance toward Moscow than her predecessor.
"We can’t transfer our idea of democracy" to Russia, Merkel told Der Spiegel weekly in an early release of its Monday edition. "At the same time, I confess there are developments that I view as cause for concern, for example the new law against non-governmental organisations."
Merkel’s comments come in the wake of the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine, which saw a brief drop in natural gas deliveries to Germany and a week before she is to pay her first visit to President Vladimir Putin since taking office on Nov. 22. Yet such remarks show she is pursuing a different tack in German-Russian relations than her predecessor, former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who enjoyed a close personal friendship with Putin. Schroeder was often criticized at home for not using his position to help bring about more positive democratic change in Russia.
Asked by Spiegel if she would use the word "friendship" to describe relations between Russia and Germany, Merkel underlined her government’s more distant stance toward Moscow.
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