It is necessary to return to the discussion of Russias accession to NATO, which was seriously discussed in the 1990s, said Christian Schmidt, a member of the German Bundestag from the CDU/CSU faction.

I have held various political positions for 30 years. In my opinion, this was the mayor of [Moscow, Yuri] Luzhkov, if I am not mistaken, the previous Moscow mayor, he once did not even rule out Russias joining NATO. This was seriously discussed. Then the NATO-Russia Founding act was signed. This all needs to be discussed again, the German politician said.

Schmidt, during the VI youth forum Potsdam meetings, noted that the entire security architecture created since 1975 in Europe had been destroyed. We just took it and lost it. And it affects everyone. Now we need to discuss together how we can build a security architecture after Helsinki (Meeting on security and co-operation in Europe in Helsinki on August 1, 1975-see note). We still need mechanisms for disarmament, arms control, and the balance of armed forces. I think that such a discussion will benefit Europe, and Europe should play an important role in it, the politician added.

Christian Schmidt was the Minister of food and agriculture from 2014 to 2018 and led the Ministry of transport and digital infrastructure from 2017 to 2018.

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Germany urged to return to the discussion of Russia's accession to NATO - FREE NEWS