NThe chancellor didn’t want to travel to Kyiv just for a photo shoot: it had to be about very specific things. Draghi, Johannis, Macron and Scholz did not come empty-handed. They advocated giving Russia-invaded Ukraine (and threatened Moldova) EU candidate status as soon as possible. Kyiv would rather join the EU sooner rather than later, expecting membership to offer protection from Putin; NATO will remain closed to Ukraine for longer.
The nomination as a candidate will boost Ukrainians’ morale. But the EU cannot offer more than the usual accession process. For this battered country, too, there should be no lowering of the conditions that every candidate has to meet. Particularly in the confrontation with Putin, the EU must not weaken itself by taking in states that are not ready to join. Nor should it alienate the peoples who have been working on the necessary reforms for a long time. Moscow would be happy to hug the disappointed.
The multiple rocket launchers deserve their name
Raising the European flag over Kyiv alone does not force the Kremlin to retreat. On the contrary: the blue banner looks like a red rag to Putin. It was the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine that blew all the fuses in the Kremlin in 2014. Ukraine must be able to defend itself against Russian aggression with military might.
To do this, it needs weapons and ammunition from the West, and in fact far more than three multiple rocket launchers, which rightly bear their name – they have been announced several times as proof that Berlin is jumping over its heavy weapons shadow.
Time is running out. Kyiv threatens to lose the war. Anyone who, like the four visitors, does not want that must give the Ukrainians what they need to avert defeat. Statements that Ukraine belongs to the European family are not enough.