The German President wanted to visit Ukraine to send a “sign of solidarity”. But he is not welcome there. A diplomatic affront, to be sure. But not undeserved.
Not welcome: Germany’s Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, here on a visit to Warsaw on Tuesday, actually wanted to visit Ukraine as well.
Marc Felix Serrao, Editor-in-Chief of the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” in Germany
You are reading an excerpt from the weekday newsletter “The Other View”, today by Marc Felix Serrao, Editor-in-Chief of the NZZ in Germany. Subscribe to the newsletter for free. Not resident in Germany? Benefit here.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is one of the most experienced German politicians, but the 66-year-old has probably never experienced such a rebuff. As has now become known, the Federal President wanted to visit Ukraine to send a “sign of solidarity”. But in Kyiv they turned him down. The reason is said to be Steinmeier’s years of cozying up to the Kremlin. The social democrat has since publicly regretted that, but in Ukraine, which is currently fighting for its existence, deeds these days obviously count for more than fine words.
You don’t have to regret Steinmeier. Few Western politicians have so persistently downplayed the Russian threat to European security and promoted dependence on Moscow for energy policy as much as Gerhard Schröder’s once closest collaborator. The unloading may be a diplomatic affront, but it’s not undeserved.
The question of how Steinmeier’s party friend Olaf Scholz will now react is exciting. In Berlin, voices have increased over the past few days calling for the chancellor to travel to Kyiv – just like the heads of government of Poland, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Austria have done. The Secretary General of the FDP, Bijan Djir-Sarai, said he would welcome a visit from the Chancellor to Kyiv. The message to Ukraine would be: “We haven’t forgotten you.”
That’s how you can see it – if you think that the Ukrainian people, shortly before the feared major Russian offensive, are still concerned with Western symbolic politics. In truth, the interest in German weapons should be greater.
Tank? In six weeks at the earliest
The Düsseldorf armaments group Rheinmetall has just promised to deliver dozens of old battle tanks, but only after a general technical overhaul and political export permits. The whole thing is supposed to last six weeks, that is, once again as long as this war has already lasted. Will Ukraine then still be recognizable?
If the German government could help to speed up or at least not slow down such arms deliveries, from the Ukrainian point of view it would certainly be a more relevant “sign of solidarity” than pictures of the Chancellor in Kyiv.
Symbolism is not wrong per se. On the contrary, many historical landmarks have remained in the collective memory with their help, from Willy Brandt’s kneeling in Warsaw to the handshake between François Mitterrand and Helmut Kohl over the graves in Verdun. But symbolic politics loses value if one only imitates what others have done before them more quickly and decisively. And without real political content, it remains PR theater. Steinmeier says hello.
Boris Johnson, undoubtedly a gifted political wrapper, was able to credibly portray himself as an ally as he strolled through Kyiv alongside Volodymyr Zelensky, because the kingdom has already supplied Ukraine with anti-tank missiles and intelligence information than has been done in Berlin and elsewhere wanted nothing to do with military support for the country. At the time of his visit, the prime minister, of whom published opinion in Germany likes to paint the distorted picture of a dubious buffoon, had literally delivered.
Pathetic speech, hesitant action
Chancellor Scholz, on the other hand, aroused great expectations with his speech about the Federal Republic’s “turning point”, but has disappointed them again and again since then – above all because of his overwhelmed and unfamiliar Defense Minister. Germany will be “on the right side of history,” he announced. Under his leadership, the country will give a “clear answer” to the “new reality”.
The pictures of the Russian war crimes in Bucha and Mariupol show what Europe’s new reality looks like. And what the German response looks like is illustrated, among other things, by the dispute over the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine. While the FDP and the Greens have long been in favour, the chancellor brakes and warns against German “going it alone” – as if any European government would have a problem with Berlin sending tanks to Ukraine.
It is this discrepancy between pathetic talk and hesitant action that would make Scholz’s visit to Kyiv superfluous. As long as he has nothing in his luggage that will help Ukraine on the battlefield, he can give himself the trip just as much as his comrade in Bellevue Castle.