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Committee chairmen Hofreiter, Strack-Zimmermann, Roth
Photo: left: Xander Heinl / Getty Images // middle: Thomas Trutschel / Getty Images // right: Christophe Gateau / picture alliance / dpa
On Monday evening they met in the Polish capital Warsaw, from there they went to Ukraine on Tuesday morning: the chairmen of the Bundestag committees for defense (Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, FDP), foreign affairs (Michael Roth, SPD) and Europe (Anton Hofreiter, Greens) will meet in the west of the country for talks with representatives of the Kiev Rada.
For the first time since Russia's attack, representatives of the Bundestag are traveling to Ukraine with the three committee chairmen.
For security reasons, the trip was kept secret until the very end, and the exact location of the meeting in western Ukraine remains silent.
Most recently, two German members of the European Parliament traveled to Ukraine for political talks, the Greens Marieluise Beck and Ralf Fücks at the end of March - but neither of them hold political offices in Germany anymore.
The German head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen (CDU), has already visited Kyiv and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj there.
Strack-Zimmermann, Roth and Hofreiter accepted an invitation from the Ukrainian parliamentarian Halyna Yanchenko, which SPIEGEL has seen.
In the letter to the members of the three Bundestag committees and the members of the German-Ukrainian parliamentary group, Yanchenko proposes a meeting in Lviv (Lemberg).
According to reports, however, they will meet at a location in western Ukraine that is closer to the Polish border.
"I ask you to make the trip in the coming weeks," reads the letter to Yanchenko, who is deputy head of the Rada group for parliamentary relations abroad.
"This would be a very strong political signal of solidarity, unity and mutual determination." She continues: "Every hour counts and costs us lives." Yanchenko's invitation reached the recipients on April 1, according to SPIEGEL information.
Security concerns at the BKA, little backing in the Bundestag and government
According to reports, the three politicians from the traffic light parties would have liked to travel earlier, but there were apparently serious security concerns at the responsible Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
It is said that the planned trip met with little support in the Bundestag and at government level.
In addition, the corresponding business trip applications had to be approved by the Bundestag administration.
The fact that the trip is taking place now and at all is also said to be due to the perseverance of the three committee chairmen.
The Greens politician Robin Wagener, chairman of the 20-strong German-Ukrainian parliamentary group, also had a business trip permit and would have liked to travel with Strack-Zimmermann, Roth and Hofreiter - but a corona infection stopped him.
Wagener has been in contact with Rada MP Yanchenko for a long time and recently met the Ukrainian politician in Berlin, where she had traveled with the brother of Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko.
Wagener wants to make up for the trip to Ukraine as soon as possible - but he is also pushing for a high-ranking German visit.
"I would like the chancellor to travel to Kyiv soon," says the Green Party politician.
Unlike other European heads of government, Olaf Scholz has not traveled to the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the war.
The reluctance of the SPD politician could also be related to the fact that Scholz has so far refused the Ukrainian wishes for more arms deliveries from Germany.
In this respect, too, Wagener puts pressure on Scholz.
A trip by the chancellor to Kyiv would "only make sense if he also offers Ukraine the necessary support - by that I mean the delivery of heavy weapons," says Wagener.
Green politician wants more engagement from the Bundestag
However, he also sees deficits in the German parliament.
"I think the Bundestag could do more," says Wagener.
"On a symbolic level, I would like us to constantly hoist the Ukrainian flag." And in purely practical terms, says the Green MP, "the MPs on the Ukrainian side could be helped with IT technology, for example."
The two Green MEPs Terry Reintke and Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, who were last in Kyiv, are also calling for visits by top German politicians to Ukraine.
Reintke says she would support it if a member of the federal government were to be seen in Kyiv in the near future, "because Germany has a special role and a special weight in Europe from a Ukrainian perspective."
At the same time, criticism of Germany is growing in Ukraine due to the reluctance, both report.
Cooperation: Markus Becker
