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dpa
Berlin
German politicians hit back at the Ukrainian leadership on Wednesday after veteran President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was refused an invitation to visit the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
The refusal to invite Steinmeier to Kiev on Wednesday was variously described as an “affront, “irritating” and even as an interference in domestic politics.
Steinmeier had intended to travel to Kiev with several Baltic leaders on Wednesday in a show of support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. But he revealed on Tuesday that this was “not wanted in Kiev,” and the Ukrainian side later indicated that it would prefer the presence of the head of government, Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The spat comes against a background of tensions between Berlin and Kiev over the support provided to Ukraine in the war.
Kiev has criticized Berlin on multiple fronts, accusing Germany of being too soft on Russia in the run-up to the conflict, too slow to deliver the kind of weapons that the Ukrainian military wants, and too slow to agree to an energy embargo on Russian fossil fuels.
The snub to Steinmeier - whose role as president is largely ceremonial but who has held numerous high-ranking government posts in the past - provoked particular displeasure, however.
It was, Scholz said, “somewhat irritating.” “The president was keen to go to Ukraine ... and therefore it would also have been good to receive him there,” he told rbb radio.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she had discussed the trip with Steinmeier and thought “it made sense.” She “regretted” that the trip did not happen, she said during a visit to Mali.
Senior Social Democrat (SPD) Rolf Mützenich said the lack of invitation was “regrettable” and “did not do justice to the close and growing ties between our two countries.”
Furthermore, he cautioned Ukrainian officials against “undue interference in the domestic politics of our country.”
Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy head of the Free Democrats (FDP), one of the parties in Scholz’s three-way coalition, said the decision could affect whether the chancellor himself goes to Kiev: “I cannot imagine that a chancellor in a government of which the FDP is also a part would travel to country that had declared our head of state as an undesirable person,” he told dpa.
Berlin
German politicians hit back at the Ukrainian leadership on Wednesday after veteran President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was refused an invitation to visit the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
The refusal to invite Steinmeier to Kiev on Wednesday was variously described as an “affront, “irritating” and even as an interference in domestic politics.
Steinmeier had intended to travel to Kiev with several Baltic leaders on Wednesday in a show of support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. But he revealed on Tuesday that this was “not wanted in Kiev,” and the Ukrainian side later indicated that it would prefer the presence of the head of government, Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The spat comes against a background of tensions between Berlin and Kiev over the support provided to Ukraine in the war.
Kiev has criticized Berlin on multiple fronts, accusing Germany of being too soft on Russia in the run-up to the conflict, too slow to deliver the kind of weapons that the Ukrainian military wants, and too slow to agree to an energy embargo on Russian fossil fuels.
The snub to Steinmeier - whose role as president is largely ceremonial but who has held numerous high-ranking government posts in the past - provoked particular displeasure, however.
It was, Scholz said, “somewhat irritating.” “The president was keen to go to Ukraine ... and therefore it would also have been good to receive him there,” he told rbb radio.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she had discussed the trip with Steinmeier and thought “it made sense.” She “regretted” that the trip did not happen, she said during a visit to Mali.
Senior Social Democrat (SPD) Rolf Mützenich said the lack of invitation was “regrettable” and “did not do justice to the close and growing ties between our two countries.”
Furthermore, he cautioned Ukrainian officials against “undue interference in the domestic politics of our country.”
Wolfgang Kubicki, the deputy head of the Free Democrats (FDP), one of the parties in Scholz’s three-way coalition, said the decision could affect whether the chancellor himself goes to Kiev: “I cannot imagine that a chancellor in a government of which the FDP is also a part would travel to country that had declared our head of state as an undesirable person,” he told dpa.
