As of: March 8, 2024, 11:52 a.m
By: Moritz Maier
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Press
Split
Kiev is coming under increasing military pressure in the Ukraine war.
In Berlin, people are already talking about rebuilding the country.
Cost: half a trillion dollars.
Berlin - In the midst of the federal government's much-criticized rejection of the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, the question of the country's reconstruction should come into focus.
In Berlin on Thursday, Construction Minister Klara Geywitz (SPD) invited Ukrainian and German architects, urban planners and experts from politics and administration to develop ideas for Ukrainian reconstruction.
And this despite the fact that Russia is threatening to gain the upper hand in the Ukraine war.
Ukraine War and Reconstruction: Conference during Taurus Debate
“We will support you as best we can,” said Geywitz, Federal Minister for Housing, Urban Development and Construction, at the opening of the conference in front of around 200 guests, around half of whom were from Ukraine.
The meeting is intended to serve as preparation for the important international “Ukraine Recovery Conference 2024” in Berlin in June.
Questions about the course of the war or the federal government's arms deliveries were not on the agenda.
In her speech, Geywitz nevertheless felt called upon to at least indirectly comment on the heated debate about the possible delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
“Regardless of individual weapon systems, one thing remains clear: the federal government stands on Ukraine’s side,” Geywitz assured the Ukrainians in the hall of the Academy of Sciences.
What Geywitz specifically means by the phrase “support as best as possible” was left open.
The minister emphasized that the German aid had a signaling effect: “The support from the Federal Government is also a sign to Ukraine: Don’t give up and stay strong.”
Heavily damaged buildings in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv last July: rebuilding the country will be expensive.
© Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP
Construction Minister Klara Geywitz: Plan the reconstruction of Ukraine now
The construction minister ignored the increasingly complicated front situation at the conference.
She said, “City builders plan in years and decades.”
Western countries are currently in a dilemma.
On the one hand, conferences like the one in Berlin are necessary to develop long-term concepts and possibilities for cooperation between countries and companies.
On the other hand, however, the Ukrainian government openly says that it needs more weapons and ammunition from the West for the survival of a free and democratic Ukraine.
Ukraine's offensive from last year appears to have finally been exhausted.
Russian units have significantly more soldiers, weapons and ammunition.
The recent no from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is causing some dissatisfaction on the Ukrainian side.
At the Berlin conference on reconstruction, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for the Restoration of Ukraine, thanked Germany profusely for its help and looked to the future.
Rebuilding Ukraine will cost half a trillion dollars
“Developments in Ukraine cannot always remain situational, we have to pursue long-term strategies,” said Kubrakov, referring to his goal of bringing Ukraine into the EU.
The reconstruction must be carried out according to “green and economically European standards”.
He cited a total cost of half a trillion dollars for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
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The focus of reconstruction should be on municipal projects under the banner of self-government.
The results the experts came to at the preliminary conference and what the projects could actually look like will be discussed at the conference of the Ukrainian allies in June.
However, Construction Minister Geywitz has already set the direction for both Ukraine and Germany: “We have to show how it can be possible to build quickly, cheaply and in a climate-friendly manner.”