Germany’s cautious stance in the Ukraine war has been the focus of criticism against Prime Minister Olaf Scholz for weeks. Scholz was also heavily criticized for not making a support visit to Kiev. The criticism was expected to end after reports that the German chancellor was likely to travel to Kiev on Thursday this week with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Scholz, who stated that he did not find it right to go to Kiev under these conditions, after the visit of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Kiev on April 12 was blocked by Ukraine, and after intense reactions, Scholz will change his attitude and visit Kiev. That didn’t stop the criticism either.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski made a statement to the German ZDF television channel last night, expressing that they expect a clear support from Germany within the scope of a possible visit, “We need assurance from Prime Minister Scholz that Germany supports Ukraine. The Prime Minister’s Russia and Ukraine. “We expect him to tell us what his priority is,” he said.
Zelenski also criticized Scholz for making a late decision on arms deliveries to Ukraine compared to other countries. Referring to Scholz’s words, “Like any other group of politicians, I have no intention of going there, going in and out and just taking pictures,” Zelenski asked the German prime minister to respond to the expectation of Ukraine’s membership in the European Union (EU) during his visit. Zelenski said, “My country expects to receive EU candidate status this year. I wish Scholz would personally support Ukraine’s EU membership. Under Merkel’s premiership, Germany had a certain skepticism about Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO. That this attitude will change. I am hopeful,” he said.
“STILL AND WRONG STEP TO GO WITHOUT TAKING DUDA”
Scholz’s possible visit to Kyiv is also met with a critical approach in Eastern European countries. Hendrik Ilves, former President of Estonia; Scholz described Macron and Draghi’s plans to go to Kiev without taking Polish President Andrzej Duda along as a “politically stupid and wrong step”. Ilves suggested that Germany and France, as the leading countries of the EU, do not consider it necessary to consult the EU countries on the Russian border. Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas warned Macron and Scholz not to call Putin any longer and said, “Otherwise, the message that he is isolated will not reach him.” In the statement made by the Polish government, it was stated that Germany had not yet delivered any heavy weapons to Ukraine and Scholz was still hesitant on this issue.
“POSSIBLE VISIT COMES BEFORE EU AND G7 SUMMITS”
The timing of Olaf Scholz’s possible visit with Macron and Draghi draws attention. If the visit takes place later this week, as various sources have indicated, it will set the agenda ahead of the EU summit on 23-24 June and the G7 summit, which will begin on 26 June in the Bavarian town of Ellmau.
It is considered certain that the issue of his country’s EU membership aspirations, voiced by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, will be discussed at both summits. However, diplomatic circles in Berlin emphasize that there are still great differences of opinion among EU countries on this issue.
GERMANY AGAINST EXCEPTION IN UKRAINE’S EU MEMBERSHIP PROCESS
Of the 27 member states, only Poland and the Baltic states demand that Ukraine be granted EU candidate status unconditionally, while all other member states, including Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium, are known to oppose a “rushed EU procedure” for Ukraine. .
Prime Minister Scholz had closed his doors to Kiev a short time ago, stating that it was not possible for Ukraine to become a member of the European Union in a short time. The social democrat politician said that Ukraine’s bid to join the EU cannot be accelerated despite the country’s occupation by Russia. Explaining that bringing an exception to Ukraine would be unfair to the Western Balkan countries seeking membership, Scholz said, “The membership process is not a matter of months or years.” In this respect, one of the questions is how Scholz and the other two leaders will respond to Zelenski’s requests on this subject during their possible visit to Kyiv.