German president not welcome in Ukraine
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Bellevue Palace in Berlin, January 31, 2022 (Illustration image).
REUTERS - HANNIBAL HANSCHKE
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The German, Polish, Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian presidents wanted to travel together to kyiv to demonstrate on the spot Europe's solidarity with Ukraine.
But on the spot, we refused to receive the German head of state Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
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With our correspondent in Berlin,
Pascal Thibaut
“
I was ready to do it, but apparently, and I have to take note of it, it was not wanted in Kyiv
”.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
reacted in a brief statement to Ukraine's announcement that he was not welcome there.
The German president was in Warsaw from where a joint trip with his Polish and Baltic counterparts was planned.
It was to be “
a strong signal of European solidarity
”, regretted Steinmeier.
In question: his Russian policy when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs in the time of Angela Merkel.
kyiv accuses him of having been too close to Moscow.
Also criticized in Germany on this issue, just like the ex-chancellor, the head of state recently made his
mea culpa,
declaring that his support for the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 had been "
a mistake
".
Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also the target of criticism.
He is accused of a commitment deemed too weak on the Ukrainian file, in particular on arms deliveries.
Criticisms also issued by its environmental allies.
The Chancellor is also criticized, unlike other officials, for not having yet visited kyiv.
He can only hope to be welcome there.
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