A meaningful visit.
Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz wanted to show their "full support" for Ukraine on Monday evening by going together under the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a symbol of the Cold War which was illuminated for the occasion in the colors of the country invaded by Russia.
Symbolic image in #Berlin: Emmanuel #Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz together at the #Brandenburg Gate illuminated in the colors of the Ukrainian flag pic.twitter.com/Myu1Hrb9Ru
— Guillaume Daret (@GuillaumeDaret) May 9, 2022
"Full support for Ukraine," said the French head of state as he approached on foot alongside the German chancellor of about 200 people massed behind cordons, and when asked what message the two leaders wanted to send with their approach.
“I would like to see more courage”
Located in the heart of Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate was until 1989 an integral part of the wall that for decades separated the Communist and Western parts of the city, becoming a symbol of the Iron Curtain.
Some of the members of the public who came to the scene were draped in the colors of Ukraine and shouted "Mariupol", the southeastern city largely destroyed by the Russian army.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Zelensky invites the German Chancellor and President to kyiv
In the small crowd, some Ukrainians, however, were critical of the course followed by both the German and French governments in the conflict, Paris and Berlin sometimes being accused of too much complacency or closeness to Russia.
“I would like to see more courage,” says Tania, 40, a doctor who has been living in Germany for 25 years.
"I understand that they
(the French and German leaders)
are afraid for their own citizens, but Russia should not be underestimated," she adds, believing that after Ukraine, Moscow could then s take on Poland and the Baltic countries.
“People in the West are scared because of rising prices and the fear of a Third World War,” she adds.
Olaf Scholz in particular regularly faces criticism for insufficient arms supplies to Ukraine and Germany's heavy reliance on energy imports from Russia.
Earlier in the day, Emmanuel Macron proposed the creation of a "European political community", likely to welcome Ukraine before integrating it into the EU, because this process would take "decades", according to him.
This organization “would allow democratic European nations adhering to our core values to find a new space for political cooperation, security, cooperation”, he explained.
An idea considered very interesting by Scholz.
