Germany Reconsiders Attitude Toward Russia Due To Refugee Crisis

The endless flow of refugees to EU countries has shifted the balance of power between Europe and Russia, forcing Germany to reconsider its relations with the latter, said Klaus Remme, a journalist at German radio Deutschlandfunk.

If the Syrian conflict isn't throttled down soon, the EU won't be able to handle the stream of millions of refugees, and the consequences could be unpredictable, Remme said.

"In this critical situation we have no other choice but admit that it is necessary to conduct negotiations with [Syrian President Bashar] Assad. [German Vice Chancellor] Sigmar Gabriel pointed out another uncomfortable truth: we need Russia back," the journalist added.

Earlier on Friday, Sigmar Gabriel called for mending relations with Russia and cooperating with the Kremlin in the Syrian conflict, saying that the West can't ask for cooperation while anti-Russia sanctions are in place.

"Gabriel said the West cannot maintain sanctions and ask for cooperation. He is right," Remme stressed.

He said that at some point in the past, it seemed as though the West could cooperate with Russia when it needed to while the sanctions are still there. Presently, though, it is just naive to think that one can go with another, the journalist intoned.

German chancellor Angela Merkel was the first to stop acting naive when she recently announced the necessity of conducting negotiations with all parties in the Syrian conflict, including Assad. Deputy Chairperson of the Left Party in the German Parliament, Sahra Wagenknecht, reacted to the statement with a fair share of sarcasm.

"After hundreds of thousands died, millions fled and the country got almost entirely destroyed, you finally start saying that current Syrian government needs to participate in the settlement of the conflict and that anti-Russia sanctions may be lifted. I hope soon we will see concrete actions" Wagenknecht wrote on her Facebook page.

According to the German paper Berliner Morgenpost, a growing number of German politicians, including those from the Opposition, have come to support the idea of negotiations with President Assad.

Among them, Franz Yosef Jung, Vice Chairman of CDU at Bundestag, noted that any political settlement in the conflict is impossible without Russia and "therefore, it is necessary to turn to Assad. German Green Party leader Cem Ozdemir also emphasized that "negotiations with Assad are necessary if they will benefit."