Berlin under fire over shock arrest of hero General
GERMANY’S commitment to stand against Russian aggression was called into question last night, following the arrest of a former senior Georgian army general.
Brig-gen Giorgi Kalandadze was declared a national hero in his native Georgia after leading the defence against a Russia invasion in 2008, before leading Ukrainian troops fighting Russian forces in the separatist Donbas region.
But now the 41-year-old is facing potential death if a German court honours an attempt to extradite him on what critics say are politically motivated charges.
His arrest – during a trip to visit his daughter in Berlin – came after Tbilisi reissued an Interpol warrant just two days after a TV interview in which he criticised the extent of Russian influence in Georgia.
It also comes as tensions heighten between Russia and the West, with Putin’s troops based on Ukraine’s doorstep. Last week was
it revealed that a Russian submarine hit a Royal Navy ship’s sonar array in the North Atlantic.
And in further signs of mistrust, the head of the UK’S armed forces warned that Russian submarine activity is threatening underwater cables crucial to global communication systems.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, 56, said cables that transmit internet data are “the world’s real information system” and added that any attempt to damage them could be considered an “act of war”.
The pursuit of General Kalandadze, whose 4th brigade were the only troops to exchange fire with Russian forces in 2008, echoes the case of another Georgian hunted in exile.
In August 2019 security operative Zelimkhan Khangoshvili was shot dead on the streets of Berlin by what German authorities later confirmed was a Russian FSB agent. Khangoshvili had been working with US intelligence to find Russian and Islamist networks.
Speaking from Berlin, where he is on bail pending his hearing, Gen Kalandadze said: “I have travelled extensively across Europe since being granted Ukrainian citizenship – including, on numerous occasions, to Germany, where my daughter lives – and have never been stopped before. Now, suddenly, I am arrested by police at Berlin airport, just two days after giving my interview.
“You can join the dots. The charges are completely unfounded.
“This is a lower level request by Georgia which is now heavily influenced by Russia, and which Germany, for some reason, has now decided to honour.”
Analysts have pointed the finger at Germany’s Russia policy, which is fraught with contradiction.
While foreign minister Annalena Baerbock is from the Green Party, which advocates a tough stance on Russia’s controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, chancellor Olaf Scholz, of the majority SPD party, favours a softer approach to Moscow and has already indicated his desire for a “qualified new beginning” in relations.
Nathalie Vogel, of the Praguebased European Values Centre for Security Policy, said: “Germany remains a country which lets Russians who are subject to EU sanctions travel to Berlin but detains a Ukrainian citizen based on a groundless Interpol notice.”
Former Nato chiefs and opposition politicians in Georgia have rallied to support Kalandadze. Gary Tabach who, as a US Navy captain, specialised in Russian affairs, said: “I saw him in action in Ukraine. He was in the trenches directing volunteers. He is a brave man.”