allegations of misguided politics
Selenskyj invites Merkel to visit Bucha
4/4/2022 2:32 am
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has criticized the decisions made by ex-Chancellor Merkel during her term in office. He invites her to a journey to the ruined city of Bucha. There Merkel can see what the “policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited former Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit the city of Bucha, which has been ravaged by serious atrocities. In the Kiev suburb, Merkel – like former French President Nicolas Sarkozy – could get an idea of their failed Russia policy in recent years, Zelensky said in a video message on Sunday evening. In 2008, the NATO countries, including Germany, promised Ukraine membership, but then backed down out of consideration for Russia. Merkel was Chancellor from 2005 to 2021.
“I invite Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy to visit Bucha and see what the policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years,” said Zelenskyy. “You will see the tortured Ukrainians with your own eyes.” The pictures from Bucha, where numerous bodies of residents were found on the streets after the withdrawal of Russian troops, caused international horror on Sunday.
Recently released satellite images from the Maxar company show a 14-meter-long ditch on the site of a church in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. According to Ukrainian sources, the bodies of hundreds of civilians killed by Russian troops were buried there. Ukraine blames Russian troops for the massacre in Bucha, which until recently occupied the small town. Moscow denies that.
Merz also criticizes the mistakes of the Merkel era
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Merkel has been criticized for not stopping the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline during her tenure as Chancellor. At the end of March, the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz denounced years of wrong decisions by German government policy in dealing with Russia in a guest article in “Der Zeit”. “Since the invasion of eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea eight years ago at the latest, it should have been clear to all of us, across all parties, what is happening in this country,” wrote Merz. The construction of the Russian-German Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was never a “purely private-sector project,” continued Merz, who is also the chairman of the Union faction. Merkel once described the pipeline as such.
Lars-Hendrik Röller, Merkel’s former economic adviser, defended the former chancellor’s Russia policy and Germany’s associated energy dependency. “There was a domestic political consensus in which everyone was involved,” he told the “Handelsblatt”. “Climate neutrality by 2045, out of nuclear and out of coal – then only gas will remain, at least as long as renewable energies are not available.”
The federal government has always listened to criticism from abroad when it comes to its energy and economic policy towards Russia, for example with the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, said Röller. Germany has therefore, among other things, advocated a new gas contract for Ukraine. “We wanted to ensure that gas would continue to flow through Ukraine,” said Röller.
Selenskyj expects further war crimes
Merkel herself condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine. “Russia’s war of aggression marks a far-reaching turning point in the history of Europe after the end of the Cold War,” declared Merkel at the end of February, shortly after the invasion began. “There is no justification whatsoever for this blatant breach of international law, I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
“My thoughts and my solidarity are with the Ukrainian people and the government led by President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy in these terrible hours and days,” emphasized Merkel.
In his video message, Zelenskyy expressed the fear that “even more terrible things could happen” than what has become known about the crimes in the city of Bucha. Other regions of the country are still under Russian control. “More deaths and abuse” could become known there.
“They knew very well what evil was about to happen”
“Because that’s the nature of the Russian military that has come to our country. They’re monsters who don’t know how to do it any differently,” said Zelenskyy. He wants every mother of a Russian soldier to see the bodies of the people killed in Bucha and other cities.
“What did they do? Why were they killed? What did a man riding a bicycle down the street do?” Zelenskyy asked. “Why were ordinary civilians tortured to death in an ordinary peaceful town? Why were women strangled after ripping their earrings out of their ears? How could they rape women and kill them in front of the children? Their bodies even after they died mock? Why did they run over people’s bodies with tanks? What did the Ukrainian city of Bucha do to your Russia?”
He also said that Ukraine really shouldn’t have asked for weapons abroad. “All the weapons we needed should have been made available to us – without being asked. Because they knew very well what evil was imminent and what it would entail.”