Tourist visa Zoff: Strack-Zimmermann agrees with Scholz – but not on a formulation by Putin
Created: 08/23/2022, 08:24
By: Markus Hofstetter
Andriy Melnyk was recalled as ambassador to Germany.
He recommends a dual strategy to his successor.
The news ticker.
Diplomacy
in the
Ukraine war
: Strack-Zimmermann against a general visa ban for Russians
Ukrainian Ambassador
Andriy Melnyk
: Diplomat expects "Herculean task" for his successor.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
warns
Russia
: For the Ukrainian president, the trial of fighters from the Azov regiment is a limit.
This
news ticker on diplomatic developments
in the Ukraine war is constantly updated.
Update from August 23, 8:22 a.m.:
Ukraine is mobilizing support for the repatriation of Crimea annexed by Russia: Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also scheduled to speak at the so-called Crimea platform on August 23.
More than 50 participants from Europe, Asia, America and Africa have been announced.
The format will be expanded this year with more participants and more topics discussed, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Ukraine and neighboring countries establish Kiev initiative
Update from August 22, 10:59 p.m .:
Ukraine and its neighboring EU countries have founded the so-called Kiev initiative to strengthen their regional cooperation.
This was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday evening in Kyiv.
He named the neighbors Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary as well as the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as participants.
Cooperation is open to other countries.
Zelenskyj said without further details that they wanted to cooperate primarily on security issues.
"This is a very promising line of our work within the Euro-Atlantic alignment."
In his video address, the President also addressed the so-called Crimea platform on Tuesday.
Selenskyj announced that their format would be expanded.
It is the second international meeting, after 2021, with which Ukraine is mobilizing support for the repatriation of the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Russia in 2014.
A speech by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected at the online summit.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg are also scheduled to speak.
A total of more than 50 participants from Europe, Asia, America and Africa have been announced.
EU foreign ministers are considering a military training mission to Ukraine
Update from August 22, 2:19 p.m
.: The EU foreign ministers are examining a military training mission for Ukraine.
Foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the issue would be discussed at an informal meeting in Prague on August 30.
He hopes that the plan will be approved.
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If all 27 member states agree, it will be “a big mission”, stressed Borrell.
He referred to EU training missions in African countries such as Mali and Niger.
Car bomb on Dugin daughter: Russia blames Ukraine
Update from August 22, 1:48 p.m
.: The Russian domestic secret service FSB has now blamed Ukraine for the death of Darja Dugina – more about the course of the attack here.
Diplomacy in the Ukraine war: Strack-Zimmermann against a general visa ban for Russians
Update August 22, 12:59 p.m
.: Should there be a tourist visa ban for Russian citizens?
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann is against it.
"On a purely emotional level, I would say: no Russian should believe for a moment that, given the situation, they should even set foot on Schengen soil," said the FDP defense politician to the
Funke
newspapers However, one should give the Russians who want to escape from Putin's system a chance.”
Union faction Vice Andrea Lindholz (CSU) sees it differently.
"Holiday visas for Russians must be stopped," she now told the
picture
.
In view of the Ukraine war, it is about "sending clear signals to the Russian population as well".
But there are also other voices in the Union.
Philipp Amthor (CDU) now said that it was right to discuss it.
At the same time, however, he warned on the RTL/ntv station not to punish “the Russian people collectively” for Putin.
Travel ban for Russians?
The EU foreign ministers want to advise
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously said on the subject: "This is Putin's war." That's why he had "very difficult" with the idea of a general entry ban.
This is "not just Putin's war," Strack-Zimmermann told the
Funke
newspapers.
"No dictator in this world can wage a war like this unless a large part of the population stands behind him."
The Czech Republic wants to propose such a travel ban to the EU member states and has not issued visas to Russian citizens since the beginning of military action.
Finland wants to significantly restrict the issuing of tourist visas for Russians from September.
The topic is also to be discussed at the meeting of EU foreign ministers on August 30 in the Czech Republic.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the German Bundestag.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Ukraine negotiations: Estonia calls for eighth package of sanctions against Moscow
Update August 22, 12:01 p.m
.: "We must greatly increase the price of aggression for the aggressor before winter";
With these words, Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu called for further sanctions against Russia.
The previous seven packages were not enough to put pressure on Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, Reinsalu said on Estonian radio.
The Estonians therefore demand:
a full energy embargo
further restrictions for certain product groups and persons
An entry ban for Russian citizens in the EU
The government in Tallinn decided last week to submit an official proposal for an eighth package of sanctions to the EU Commission in Brussels.
Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk: Diplomat expects "Herculean task" for his successor.
First report from August 22
: Berlin - The Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk will leave Germany on October 14 after almost eight years in office.
"I have to be in Kyiv (Kyiv) on October 15 to - it looks like - take up a new post in the Foreign Ministry," Melnyk told the German Press Agency.
According to a proposal by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Melnyk should become one of several deputy foreign ministers.
But the government has yet to make a decision.
Melnyk leaves Germany: dismissal for statements about controversial Ukrainian nationalists
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recalled Melnyk from his post in mid-July.
Shortly before, the diplomat had caused criticism with statements by Stepan Bandera.
Historians accuse the controversial Ukrainian nationalist of collaborating with the Nazis and sharing responsibility for the murder of Poles and Jews in World War II.
Melnyk himself has always denied the accusation that his statements about Bandera were playing down the Holocaust.
His successor in Berlin is to be Oleksiy Makejev, who was political director at the Foreign Ministry in Kyiv for many years.
But there is still no official confirmation for this either.
Makejev is scheduled to arrive in Berlin shortly after Melnyk has left Germany.
The Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk will leave Germany on October 14 after almost eight years in office.
(Archive photo) © Political-Moments/imago
Melnyk leaves Germany: Ukrainian ambassador expects "Herculean task" for successor
Melnyk is also controversial because of his harsh criticism of the government's Ukraine policy.
Nevertheless, he looks back positively on his tenure.
In retrospect, he considers his often undiplomatic conduct of office to be correct, including describing Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) as an “offended liverwurst”.
Melnyk recommends a dual strategy to his successor.
"He would have to be accepted as a diplomat as soon as possible, i.e. be nice and friendly, in order to win new sympathy for Ukraine, especially in view of the war weariness and this exaggerated debate about a cold winter," says Melnyk.
On the other hand, he couldn't help but be uncomfortable and edgy and keep challenging the "sluggish German political elite".
It will be “a Herculean task for him to find his way through the Berlin political jungle without any grace period”.
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
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Zelenskyy warns Russia: No trial for Ukrainian fighters on Independence Day
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, has warned Russia against trying his country's soldiers on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day.
"This will be the limit beyond which negotiations are no longer possible," said the Ukrainian President in his evening video address on Sunday.
He referred to media reports that a Russian public trial for fighters from the Azov regiment captured during the siege of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol could coincide with Wednesday's Independence Day.
The Ukrainian President had previously warned of increased Russian attacks around Independence Day.
On August 24, Ukraine commemorates its independence from the Soviet Union 31 years ago.
Imprisoned US citizen Griner: Ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman wants to work for release
Former US basketball star Dennis Rodman wants to personally campaign in Russia for the release of imprisoned basketball player Brittney Griner.
"I have permission to travel to Russia to help the girl," Rodman told
NBC News
on Sunday .
He hopes to be able to travel this week.
At the beginning of August, 31-year-old Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia for drug smuggling.
She has already appealed the verdict.
Ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman wants to travel to Moscow to campaign for the release of Brittney Griner.
(Archive photo) © Kim Kwang Hyon/dpa/picture alliance
Rodman, 61, is known for his unorthodox forays into international politics.
In recent years he has developed a friendship with North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un and has traveled to the internationally isolated country several times.
Rodman has also spoken positively about Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past.
In 2014, after meeting in Moscow, he called Putin "pretty cool."