As of: February 27, 2024, 12:00 p.m
By: Hannes Niemeyer
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Press
Split
During her visit to Odessa, Annalena Baerbock assured Ukraine of solidarity and support.
She also had a linguistic gift with her.
Odessa – Saturday marked the second anniversary of the cruel war in Ukraine.
There is no end to the conflict in sight.
From the perspective of the Federal Government, it is therefore all the more important to maintain solidarity for the country brutally attacked by Vladimir Putin's Russia.
To demonstrate this, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock traveled unannounced to war-torn Odessa.
The Green politician saw live how difficult the situation on site can still be.
On Saturday evening she had to go to a shelter in her hotel because of an alarm in the port city.
Delegation circles said it was a missile alarm.
An explosion was then heard in the Odessa region.
It remained unclear whether there was a rocket hit or whether the Ukrainian air defense blocked the projectile.
Details about possible damage or victims were initially not known.
Annalena Baerbock with counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Odessa.
The Foreign Minister had a linguistic gift with her during the visit.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Baerbock experiences the air alarm in Odessa - in a statement she announces a “long overdue” step
Baerbock had previously met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
There was also a joint press conference on Saturday, which the Foreign Minister used to present a kind of linguistic gift to her counterpart representing the Federal Government.
The government will change the spelling of the Ukrainian capital in official language.
In the future we will no longer be talking about Kiev - but about Kyiv.
“We have completed what was long overdue: the spelling of your capital in the Ukrainian language,” explained Baerbock in her statement at the press conference.
Ukraine had long asked for a change in the German spelling to be closer to the Ukrainian name of the capital.
According to the Ukrainian interpretation, the spelling “Kiev” is too similar to the Russian language.
In the future “Kyiv” instead of “Kiev”: Baerbock announces changes to the Ukraine capital – and receives thanks
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister thanked for the new language.
“We have fought for many years to ensure that Ukraine is not viewed through the Russian language,” Kuleba said.
“I would like to thank everyone who fights for historical justice - even in small details.”
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However, there is still a linguistic disagreement between Germany and Ukraine on another point.
Kuleba asked his colleague to have the name of the port city of Odessa spelled with just one “s” in the future - like in Ukrainian.
Baerbock replied that the “devil is in the details”.
“With just one 's' we would pronounce it differently in Germany,” she pointed out - namely with a long “e”.
The minister summed up: “We have to discuss this further.”
The Foreign Minister previously caused a stir at the G20 meeting.
There she spoke directly to Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov - after a scandal at the last meeting.
However, due to another flight breakdown, Baerbock's departure after the meeting was delayed again.
(han/dpa)