“Difficult, difficult years are coming. Our share of the world has been exhausted. OUR Germany is entering an era against the wind,” said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, describing the new reality for Germany with the start of war in Ukraine.

During his 45-minute address to the nation from the Bellevue Presidential Palace in Berlin, the German president emphasized that the days when only “fair winds” blew for Germany were over.

February 24 marked the “end of an era” of peace, prosperity and stability. Things that were taken for granted in Germany. Now the country is going through a “deep crisis”.

In the tense difficult climate of the surrounding political and economic atmosphere, with the energy crisis and inflation making up a complex landscape, but in recent pictures of the destruction that he himself saw with his own eyes a few days ago in Kyiv, the German president tried to cheer the Germans. In a tense tone, his call is one: to remain united in the coming years if they are to maintain post-war gains.

Germany struggles with ‘internal dilemmas’

“We should not meet the new era with fear, as defenseless (…) We need a spirit of resistance, we need endurance,” he said characteristically.

Germany remains economically strong thanks to a solid welfare state, while at the same time it is focusing on supporting the German military with a new $100 billion fund. At the same time, “we must learn to deal with crises both at home and abroad.”

However, the German President also came out with self-criticism, acknowledging the fact that Germany is also struggling with internal dilemmas: on the one hand, she wants to support Ukraine militarily, but not become a belligerent. She wants to impose additional sanctions, but not suffer the consequences herself.