Orkhan Sattarov, the head of the European Bureau of Vestnik Kavkaza
German media reacted briskly to the renewed Russian military doctrine. Most leading newspapers and magazines are full of headlines highlighting that the strengthening the capacity of the North Atlantic Alliance has been declared a fundamental threat to the Russian Federation. For example, Spiegel published a feature article under the catchy title "NATO and Ukraine are now the main enemies of Putin." No less an influential newspaper than Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published an article titled a similar way: "Russia has designated NATO as a threat."
"And yet, despite all the concerns of NATO, the new Russian military doctrine does not directly call it "an enemy ", and there is even one paragraph about equal dialogue with NATO and the EU as one of the stated goals of Russia", noted Die Welt. Commenting on the passage of the document of the use of information and communication technologies for military purposes, that is, the information war, the newspaper noted: "The Russian state media resources this year are enhancing their operation abroad. The document makes it clear that the industry is strategically important for the Kremlin."
Among internal threats, first place is taken by the danger of internal destabilization, writes Die Welt. But, at the same time, there is also a new paragraph, which attracted the attention of German journalists: the danger of information influence on the population in order to undermine its patriotic spirit. "Who is expected to conduct such propaganda is unclear. The Russian government is currently working hard on patriotic education of youth, for example military training has returned to secondary schools. The spread of accurate information and personal views is considered as a threat," says edition. In a supplement to the article, the edition has prepared a report on Russia's new methods of conducting military operations, stressing that Vladimir Putin is a master of "hybrid war."
The German media are also discussing the possibility of a revolution in Russia. Very often it is discussed in the context of the collapse of the ruble and the unfolding economic crisis. One of the few German experts on Russia, Stefan Meister, answering a question of Deutschland Radio Kultur concerning the possibility of revolutionary political changes in Russia, said that in the short and medium terms such statements are absurd. According to the analyst, the growing conflict between the West and Russia in itself is a source of legitimation of the political system of Putin. "Putin has created a system, sharpened by himself, he controls the security services in the country and in fact at the moment there is no one who could challenge him," said Meister. The expert also noted that he is skeptical about the possibility of "establishing democracy in Russia as a result of revolution." According to him, Russians are "tired of revolutions." "They have had it already and then what happened? I think that in order to change the situation, the regime should transform itself. Some corresponding social processes are also necessary. These process were unfolding until 2012," said Meister . "The political system of Russia has always been able to manage new challenges," he said.
The negative impact of the economic crisis in Russia on European manufacturers also remains in the focus of German media. Focus quotes the German automobile expert Ferdinand Dudenheffera, who estimated that, as a result of the abolition of car sales in Russia, the turnover of German automakers in Russia will reduce by 15 billion euros. This means that the German automobile industry has lost more than 600 million euros in net revenues, notes Dudenheffer. For the 2014-2017 time frame, German automakers will sell 675 thousand fewer cars than planned. At the same time, according to the expert, "this is a very conservative prognosis." This calculation also does not take into account the economic value of the vehicles, he said.
