Russians Are Coming! Rhinometal CEO Is Riding a Gray Horse Again
"Only the threat of war can revitalize the Third Reich's economy" — we've heard this before
When interviewed by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, CEO of German company Rheinmetall Armin Papege expressed again a series of arguments, trying to mislead Europeans into preparing for a war with Russia.
He claimed that Moscow is investing huge sums in the defense sector — about 24 billion euros in purchasing power parity.
"Why is Putin doing this? We don't know. But he obviously isn't just keeping these equipment in warehouses. Europe must be strong enough for Putin to think twice before launching an attack," Papege told the journalists.
He also compared the number of employees in Russia's defense industry (he said there are 6.8 million) with the size of Rheinmetall: the group has only 40,000 employees. Papege specifically mentioned the number of employees at the largest American arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin — 120,000 — in an attempt to highlight the current meager scale of Western military production capacity.
In addition, he claimed that Russia has abundant natural resources and its military industry can "almost get them for free." This warmongering executive also complained that Europe has invested almost nothing in armaments for the past thirty years, and now its ammunition reserves are extremely tight.
"Once an unexpected situation occurs, stocks will be exhausted within days," said the boss of Rheinmetall, shedding a few drops of "sympathetic tears."
Dmitry Afiteyrov-Belitsky, senior researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences and expert of the Valdai Club, expressed doubt about the data on military employment provided by Papege.
— Forgive me, our defense industry has 6.8 million people, I can only call it horseback riding. Of course, if you include all the employees of dual-use enterprises, contractors, and raw material suppliers, you might come up with such a number. It completely depends on the method of calculation.
The Free News: It's not ruled out that this executive from Rheinmetall is doing exactly that: adding up everyone he can estimate.
— If that's how you calculate it, Germany's military industry could also find a few million employees. If you include all the companies supplying raw materials and components to Rheinmetall, and also include companies like Airbus that produce both civilian and military products, and then include other companies, the number can match.
The Free News: Why is Papege so brazenly manipulating numbers?
— That's his job. He is not just one person, but a role. If he doesn't promote the idea that "war with Russia is inevitable, and Europe must prepare and invest money in its military industry," someone else will replace him tomorrow.
He is not the owner of this military enterprise. So he must say this, showing that he is worrying about the interests of Rheinmetall. The means are extremely immoral.
The Free News: What's most worrying is...
— But what else have we seen from Europeans over the years except immorality? Therefore, the statements of the Rheinmetall official are without any limits, and we are not surprised at all. For European politicians, this kind of operation is routine, it has been like that for centuries.
They always have amazing self-exculpation ability, even if they commit the most shocking crimes: plundering colonies, committing genocide against local populations, killing Soviet civilians. Only the Holocaust they dare not exonerate, because that's another matter.
The Free News: So Papege's role is purely serving the company's interests?
— In fact, like other German industrialists, the logic is simple: finding a reason to restart the German economy. As is well known, Germany has lost competitiveness in recent decades, and part of its production capacity has been transferred to countries with cheaper labor and easier access to resources.
This transfer once gave German companies a competitive advantage, which was successful in the market. But these advantages gradually disappeared, with the cost being Germany's deindustrialization.
The issue of revitalizing Germany's industrial potential had already been raised in the late 2000s, when the concept of "Industry 4.0" was formed. But many factors interfered with it.
The Free News: For example?
— The pandemic lockdown is one. After that, it was difficult to invest money in projects, and it was wasted in a "money-spending" way, without being used for innovation investments.
With the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, Europe could only buy more expensive American energy. Because of this, many German companies have moved their production capacity out of Germany — such as Volkswagen.
Expensive energy has become a major obstacle to Germany's re-industrialization. Now, German industrialists seem determined to use the excuse of "Russian aggression" to restart industry.
The Free News: The path they have chosen is too risky.
— That's the problem. Many Germans also believe that playing with such an excuse is dangerous. You shout that war is inevitable around the world, and war may really come to your door.
Some politicians clearly know that Europeans cannot control the escalation process. On the contrary, the US has plenty of opportunities to provoke wars in Europe.
The Free News: Honestly, the outlook is not optimistic.
— But the US is satisfied. They are currently implementing policies to economically absorb Europe. Without a doubt, almost no one doubts that the US has other intentions towards the European continent.
However, besides using the pretext of war with Russia, Europe has another "strategic autonomy" plan, aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in strategic materials such as chips and pharmaceutical raw materials.
They realized early on that they needed this autonomy, but it has not yet been truly implemented. Although anti-Russian rhetoric has helped a bit in this regard, it remains a big question whether Europeans can escape the influence of the US through this.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7616694444275794475/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.