"Irritations out of the world": Minister of Finance Lindner announces trip to Kyiv
Created: 05/07/2022 05:02
By: Florian Naumann, Patrick Mayer, Katharina Haase, Andreas Schmid, Franziska Schwarz
Federal Minister of Finance: Christian Lindner from the FDP.
© IMAGO / Christian Spicker
Chancellor Scholz warns of a Russian victory in the Ukraine war.
Finance Minister Lindner talks about a trip to Kyiv.
The news ticker on reactions from Germany.
Ukraine conflict: According to a report, Bundestag President Bas (SPD) wants to travel to the war zone.
Lindner
announces
trip to Kiev
: Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner wants to travel to Ukraine as the next top German politician.
After a lot of criticism before: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) announces a TV speech.
This
news ticker on reactions from Germany in the Ukraine war
is continuously updated.
You can read the background to the Ukraine crisis here.
Update from May 6, 6:40 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) defended the German arms deliveries to Ukraine at an SPD campaign event in Kiel, with loud protests from troublemakers.
After the war, there was an agreement not to move borders in Europe by force, Scholz said on Friday - two days before the state elections in Schleswig-Holstein - in Kiel.
"This is something that Putin questioned and we will not accept that," said the Chancellor.
Germany must not leave Ukraine alone, the country cannot defend itself against the aggressor without weapons.
According to the police, more than 1,200 people had gathered on the town hall square for the SPD election campaign rally, including around 50 disruptors and counter-demonstrators.
They loudly disrupted the rally with whistles and sirens.
"Scholz to the front" read one poster, "Create peace without weapons" on another.
Germany in the Ukraine war: CDU General Secretary Czaja warns of storming Soviet monuments
Update from May 6, 6:25 p.m .:
Immediately before the international commemoration of the end of the Second World War, CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja warns against storming monuments.
In the face of numerous calls for Soviet memorials to be rebuilt, demolished or closed, the Berlin Union politician advocates a differentiated approach to German-Soviet history.
"Despite all the criticism, the Soviet Union was a multinational state," Czaja told the
Tagesspiegel
.
"Your army liberated Germany from Nazi terror in 1945 - soldiers from all regions of the Soviet Union took part in the liberation, so Ukrainians as well as Russians.
On May 8th, we in Germany can commemorate the liberation from fascism without downplaying the Kremlin's war of aggression," said the Union politician.
For Berlin in particular, it is now important to “prevent provocations, precisely in order to enable all Berliners to commemorate them in a dignified manner”.
Germany in the Ukraine war: Lindner announces a trip to Kyiv - Minister of Finance in Ukraine
Update from May 6, 4:55 p.m
.: Federal Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner has announced a trip to Kiev as the next top German politician.
“Fortunately, the irritation was resolved.
Now there will be visits," Lindner told the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung (NOZ)
on the debate between Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj.
He himself is "in constant contact with his counterpart, the Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko," the FDP politician explained to the newspaper: "If it is helpful for him in the matter, I will visit him at a suitable time.
We have already agreed that.”
Germany in the Ukraine war: Lars Klingbeil (SPD) puts pressure on gas and oil
Update from May 6, 4:30 p.m .:
According to SPD Federal Chairman Lars Klingbeil, Germany must hurry to transform its economy away from fossil energies towards alternative variants.
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
, Klingbeil explained at an appointment in Hanover
that the excessive dependence on Russian oil and gas must be reduced quickly in the context of the Ukraine war .
"That's why Germany has to march ahead, and we will pull other European countries along with us, but we shouldn't wait for Europe," said the 44-year-old SPD politician.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned in Hamburg on Friday of Vladimir Putin's victory in the Ukraine war.
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
Germany in the Ukraine war: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) addresses citizens in a TV speech
Update from May 6, 1:20 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to address the people of Germany in a TV speech on Sunday.
It could also be a counterweight to major Russian actions on the following day: Vladimir Putin wants to speak on Monday at the Russian celebrations of the victory over the German National Socialists 77 years ago.
May 9 is considered a highly symbolic date in Russia, and concerns about a further military escalation are also linked to the date.
Deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said in Berlin that Scholz's speech was about the end of the Second World War in Europe on May 8, 1945.
With Ukraine and Russia, "two countries that fell victim to German aggression during World War II are now at war with each other this year," she said.
"This is an important and also a very depressing moment." May 8 stands like no other day for "never again a world war".
The fact that war is now being waged again in Europe is “a very depressing circumstance.
And that's what the Chancellor's speech will be about."
Scholz warned urgently of the consequences of the Ukraine war on Friday.
If Russian President Vladimir "Putin gets away with it, then international rulelessness threatens," he said on Friday in a speech marking the 100th anniversary of the overseas club in Hamburg City Hall.
For that reason alone, Russia should not have the upper hand.
"Putin must not win this criminal war of aggression against Ukraine - and he will not win this war either," said the Chancellor to applause in front of around 500 invited guests.
Germany in the Ukraine war: Berlin delivers heavy tank howitzers to Kyiv in 2000
Update from May 6, 11:05 a.m .:
It had been indicated in the past few days: Germany is supplying Ukraine with seven heavy tank howitzers 2000 (PzH 2000).
And from the stocks of the Bundeswehr.
As
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) explained this Friday that these are weapon systems from ongoing repairs.
The PzH 2000 is the standard gun of the four artillery battalions of the German Bundeswehr, the units were delivered between 1998 and 2003.
The Bundeswehr, as a NATO ally, has stationed at least six self-propelled howitzers in Rukla, Lithuania, about 100 kilometers from the Belarusian border.
“Their strength lies in their precision and in their great combat range.
It is one of the most modern artillery pieces in the world.
Up to five projectiles can be fired in succession on trajectories of different steepness so that they hit their target at the same time," explains the Bundeswehr in a video on YouTube: "Few guns achieve such an effect." The PzH 2000 can therefore fire three shots in ten seconds .
The range of the ammunition is 40 kilometers.
Originally, the PzH 2000 should be called "bull or rhinoceros".
However, the working title remained.
Germany in the Ukraine war: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) gives a TV speech on Sunday
Update from May 6, 9.40 a.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will address the people of Germany in a speech at the weekend.
According to information from
Bild
, a TV speech on the Ukraine war is planned.
The newspaper reports that Scholz's speech recorded on Sunday afternoon should be broadcast on ARD and ZDF in the early evening.
The state elections in Schleswig-Holstein will also take place on Sunday.
Not an issue for Scholz's speech, but still one for the federal government, remain diplomatic relations with Ukraine: Ambassador Andriy Melnyk sees no reason for an apology after his verbal attack on Scholz.
"It's not about apologizing, it's about making the right policy these days," he told Deutschlandfunk on Friday morning.
"It's not about whether you feel offended or not, it's about whether you help us not to lose in this war and to save lives." The problem that stood in the way was the phone call both Presidents Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Volodymyr Zelenskyj have now also been cleared out.
Ukraine War: Lambrecht confirms Germany's delivery of self-propelled howitzers
Update from May 6, 7:58 a.m.:
Germany will deliver seven Panzerhaubitzen 2000 to Ukraine.
An agreement had been reached on this, said Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on Friday in Sliac in Slovakia.
The weapon systems should come from ongoing repairs and should therefore not be immediately lacking in the Bundeswehr.
Training should be offered for howitzers.
Update from May 6, 6.30 a.m .:
The philosopher and former Minister of State for Culture Julian Nida-Rümelin expects a new Cold War as a result of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
“For the future I believe that this war will change a lot.
That means, for example, that there will be a border between East and West like we had,” said Nida-Rümelin in the “Wochentester” podcast from “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” and “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland” (RND).
The neutral states of Sweden and Finland would probably belong to NATO in the future, as would Ukraine.
"There will be a post-war period characterized by hostilities." If Russia has to endure the tough sanctions in the long term, there will also be a solidarity with China.
"Then we'll have a starting point like the one we had for a long time during the Cold War."
His concern is "that we will experience a media escalation of bellicism and that the prudent course will be ended".
He added: “Russia is weak in many ways, but not weak as a nuclear power.
That's why we have to make sure that this war ends in such a way that Ukraine does not experience dictated peace, but also that there is no escalation like in the First World War, which brings even more terrible suffering for the whole world."
FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai also sees noticeable cuts coming to people in Germany as a result of the war in Ukraine.
"In Germany we have no recent experience of a loss of prosperity," said FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai in an interview with the AFP news agency.
"It's something we haven't seen in the last few decades.
We will have to change here.”
Update from May 5, 9 p.m.:
The federal government is planning a ring exchange with the Czech Republic to supply Ukraine with weapons.
The Czech Republic can deliver weapons from former Soviet stocks to Ukraine that are "directly useful" for the Ukrainian troops, Scholz said on Thursday at a joint press conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala in the Chancellery.
In return, Germany could supply the Czech Republic with weapons and ensure "that the Czech army retains the necessary strength".
Germany in the Ukraine war: After a Steinmeier phone call - Scholz announces a Baerbock visit
Update from May 5, 7:20 p.m.:
After weeks of disagreement between Germany and Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is to travel to Kiev “soon”.
This was announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Thursday evening at a press conference in Berlin.
The Chancellor gave no information on his own travel plans.
A few hours earlier, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was initially undesirable in Kyiv, had called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (see previous update)
Update from May 5, 2:57 p.m
.: The Ukrainian President Selenskyj invited Federal President Steinmeier and Chancellor Scholz to Ukraine after a telephone call
(see previous update)
.
This is reported by the AFP news agency.
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) is already traveling to Ukraine at the weekend.
According to information from Berlin, Steinmeier and Selenskyj described the call as "very important and very good".
In addition to the Federal President and the Federal Chancellor, the invitation to Kyiv also applies to all ministers of the federal government, the Office of the Federal President told the AFP news agency.
The Federal President wants to accept the invitation, but a date has not yet been set.
Update from May 5, 2:21 p.m
.: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on Thursday.
The Office of the Federal President announced that the irritations from the past had been cleared up.
War in Ukraine: Merz urges reopening of German embassy in Kyiv
Update from May 5, 1:34 p.m
.: CDU leader Friedrich Merz spoke to the
Rheinische Post
after his trip to Kiev .
He pushed for the reopening of the German embassy in Ukraine.
After 30 international embassies, it is one of the last that is still closed.
Although Germany is one of the largest donors to Ukraine, the image that the federal government is always hesitant is becoming more widespread internationally, criticized Merz.
It gives the impression that we always have to be pushed.
"We're never ahead.
In the case of arms deliveries, that is still understandable, but we could have sent a signal to the embassy," said Merz.
The German embassy in Kyiv was closed immediately after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against the country.
Other EU countries behaved similarly at the time, but several of them have since returned to Ukraine with their diplomatic missions.
The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz (r) is received in Kyiv by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
© Niels Starnick for BILD/-/dpa
Germany in the Ukraine war: After Merz, Bas now also wants to go to Kyiv
First report from May 5
: Berlin – Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) is considering a visit to Ukraine at the weekend
, according to a report by
The Pioneer portal.
Bas could meet Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk in Kyiv on May 8, the portal reported on Thursday, citing information from Ukrainian parliamentary circles.
According to the protocol, the President of the Bundestag is the second highest representative in Germany after Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Bas has the desire, at the invitation of her counterpart Stefantschuk, to commemorate all the victims of the Second World War and to hold political talks with him, said a spokeswoman at the request of the dpa news agency.
Ukraine war: Bas allegedly wanted to let Scholz go first when traveling
According to the
Pioneer
report, Bas has had plans to visit Kiev for some time.
But you initially wanted to let Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) go first.
However, he has now announced that he does not want to travel to Ukraine for the time being.
Scholz justified this with annoyance that Steinmeier was not welcome there because of his Russia policy during his time as foreign minister.
Members of the federal government have not visited Ukraine since the Russian invasion of the country, unlike leaders of the EU and many EU member states.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has not traveled to Ukraine either.
On the other hand, CDU leader Friedrich Merz met in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, among others.
(AFP/dpa/frs)