Russian Investment in Germany and NATO Englargement

Here are interesting headlines and extracts. From Der Spiegel: Moscow Investors Go on Shopping Spree for German Companies

Putin decided some time ago that his country’s future lay in “going West.” “We are not arriving with Kalashnikovs,” he said during a visit to Germany two years ago, “but with money.” His successor Dmitry Medvedev, who takes office in May, has already announced that he plans to continue the same course. For Medvedev, it is the “government’s obligation” to support Russian companies “in the global competition, especially in the fields of high technology and energy.” KM, a popular Internet portal, summarized the president-elect’s strategy: “Medvedev is calling upon Russians to buy the West.”

From the Financial Times: Germany blocks ex-Soviets’ Nato entry

Among the European Union’s larger member states, Germany has been most willing in recent years to take into account Russia’s security worries. German officials were sceptical on Monday about the US view that Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine would help bring stability and added security to the region. “We have to weigh up how much security we will win and how much we will lose,” one person familiar with Berlin’s stance said. Berlin fears that a deal on Map status would lead to Russia being less willing to find accords with the US and Nato on key missile defence and disarmament issues.