“Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are; ...”
The words of a chancellor
In recent days, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has made statements on various occasions, for example at the NATO meeting in The Hague or at various interviews. The Chancellor's statements reflect the principles of German policy decisions. Since 2022 at the latest, one of the main focuses of every German Chancellor, if not THE focus par excellence, has been Ukraine in all its facets.
In his statements, Friedrich Merz never tires of presenting this country to his listeners as an inspiration for democracy and human rights, which requires our unconditional support in its heroic fight against an overpowering enemy. In an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger, he spoke of “his hopes for Ukraine and Europe's rearmament”, as the paper explained to its readers in its introduction. The Chancellor gave a satisfied assurance: “In any case, the US will continue to support Ukraine for the time being.”
When asked about the use of Russian state assets frozen in the EU against all applicable international law, he is absolutely confident:
“This money will of course be used for the reconstruction of Ukraine.”
Friedrich Merz
The message from his Foreign Minister to Ukaine
This chancellor appointed his party colleague Johann Wadephuhl as his foreign minister. He was also recently out and about in Ukraine, directly in Kiev. NTV reported on Volodymir Zelensky's delight when Wadephul informed him that Berlin had changed its previous stance on Ukraine's accession to NATO. Berlin now supports future membership. Zelensky is quoted as follows:
"This is a very important moment - not only with regard to our future in the European Union. I would like to thank you personally for a signal that we have not heard from Germany for a long time, perhaps never."
Volodymir Selenski
In the original Ukrainian source, the Ukrainian state news agency “Ukrinform”, Zelensky is further quoted as follows:
"During the NATO summit, Germany stated at the meeting between the NATO and Ukraine foreign ministers that it believes Ukraine should become a member of the alliance. This would be in the interests of Europe's collective security."
Volodymir Selenski
The Foreign Minister's view on Ukraine
During the same visit to Ukraine, the head of Germany's diplomatic service praised cooperation with Ukraine to the skies and quickly got to the heart of the matter:
“Our armaments cooperation is a real trump card.”
Johann Wadephul
The Tagesschau continues to report:
"The Foreign Minister called it a win-win situation that some German defense companies are already active in Ukraine and that Ukrainian companies are working in Germany. "Both sides benefit and show that our security is connected and that we can also benefit economically from this. This is a good thing and we want to expand this altogether,“ said Wadephul.”
German Tagesschau ARD
And let's not forget freedom:
“The freedom and future of Ukraine is the most important task of our foreign and security policy”
Johann Wadephul
How does the involvement in war begin again?
The Foreign Minister's view on Russia
Johann Wadephul has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2009, so he represented the people in this House back in the days when relations between Germany and Russia still existed, when the German side still attached importance to a fundamentally respectable relationship with Russia. Today, the German chief diplomatspeaksabout Russia as follows:
“Russia will always be an enemy and a threat to our European security”.
Johann Wadephul
Wadephul said this in February 2025 to Russian comedians who claimed to be Zelensky confidants on the phone. Among friends, one can speak straight.
The second part of the quote
The title of this article comes from none other than Johann Wolfgang Goethe. In his work “Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre”, the quote can be found in the second book, chapter 11. Its second part should not be withheld here:
“... if I know what you are involved with, I know what you 'll become.”
The saying is widely used in different variations and is now a common saying. Everyone understands and accepts it. This is because it confirms people in their dealings with friends or in their assessment of others and provides orientation in life. The vernacular has other complementary wisdom in store. “Birds of a feather flock together”, for example. They confirm life in their own way time and time again.
“...the most important task of our foreign and security policy”
It is well known that nothing is decided in the Ukrainian leadership without the central figure Zelensky. He is therefore certain to have a decisive say in any government personnel decisions.
It is further well known that Ukraine pays an inordinate amount of attention to its own history, to proving its overpowering role in the history of the world. For example, Ukrainian historians spoke of Christopher Columbus as one of their own, and they also spoke of the 5000-year history of the Ukrainian nation.
It can therefore be assumed that the appointment of Oleksandr Alforov as Chairman of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance by the Ukrainian government on June 27, 2025 was a deliberate decision and not a snap decision.
Who is this man? The following information can be found in the Ukrainian Wikipedia:
From 2008, he worked as a presenter for the Ukrainian radio station “Kultur”.
From 2010, the 1983-born candidate of historical sciences worked at the Institute of Ukrainian History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
His political career took off in 2014. He became press spokesman for none other than Andrei Bilitsky and remained so until 2018. We will not go into Bilitsky in detail here. However, it should be mentioned that from 2022 he became the commander of the Nazi battalion “Azov”, the Ukrainian unit responsible for the crimes in Mariupol and elsewhere.
From 2014-2015, Alforov was the press spokesman for this very “Azov” battalion
In 2019, he joined the Ukrainian public television channel “ Kultur”
2020-2021 he coordinated the activities of the Ukrainian section of a Princeton University project: "Framing the Late Antique and Medieval Economy
Since April 2022 he is an officer of the special unit “Azov-Kiev”;
later he became an officer of the 3rd separate assault brigade
also Head of the Humanitarian Training and Information Supply Group of the Department of Psychological Support of Personnel.
At the same time, he was chairman of the expert group for de-russification in Kiev
This highly qualified Nazi was appointed guardian of Ukrainian national memory on June 27.
I ask for your understanding for this detailed account. But it was necessary in order to understand the scale of the monstrosity that followed.
After taking up his new post, Alforov spoke about Putin and Hitler in an interview:
In Alforov's opinion, Hitler was a decent, educated and well-mannered person, quite unlike Putin. Putin and Hitler could not be compared because the latter had been educated and “brought up in a high culture”.
He then continued verbatim:
"How can you compare a person who has had a German education, who was an artist, who grew up with the philosophy and culture of Germany - a high culture - with these people? Impossible. These are people you can't compare."
Oleksandr Alforow
He is also of the opinion that one cannot compare the peoples of Nazi Germany [“peoples” in the original, the author] and today's Russia. He did not refer to the Russians as “orcs”, but as “goblins”.
“How can one compare the German people, who were brought up in the spirit of law and obedience, with a Protestant or Catholic, i.e. a powerful Christian ethic, with a people who live there in the East with goblins?”
Oleksandr Alforow
As mentioned, there are many derived variants in the sense of the article title. I would like to add one more:
Tell me who your friends are, Germany, who and what you support, and I'll tell you what you have become.
because:
«“Tell me with whom you associate, and I will tell you who you are; ...”»