Visit to Ukraine
Merz is “completely shaken” in Kyiv
5/3/2022 8:34 p.m
CDU leader Merz spoke to Ukrainian President Selenskyj in Kyiv for more than an hour, but initially did not want to say anything about the conversation. First he will report to the Federal Chancellor. A visit to Irpin left a special impression on him.
At the end of his one-day trip to Ukraine, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz expressed his concern at the extent of the destruction in the country. His day began in the Kiev suburb of Irpin, Merz said at a brief press conference with Mayor Vitali Klitschko at Kyiv City Hall.
“I was really completely shaken, not just been, I still am. You can’t get these pictures out of your head,” Merz continued. Irpin is located next to the village of Bucha and was also the scene of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers during the Russian siege.
Klitschko expressly thanked Merz for the “symbolic visit” and for supporting Ukraine. Merz had arrived in Ukraine by train in the morning.
To start his visit, Merz visited the Kiev suburb of Irpin.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP)
Speaking of his visit to Irpin, Merz said it was different to see such destruction first-hand than just on TV. “You have to see something like this to grasp the tragedy of such attacks.”
“Great gratitude for the initiative of the Union”
Before his appointment at Kyiv City Hall, Merz had met the Speaker of Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and, surprisingly, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as representatives of the Ukrainian opposition. After his talks, he feels very much confirmed in the decision that the German Bundestag made last week. “I experienced great gratitude today for the initiative of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group,” Merz continued. The application for more arms deliveries decided in the Bundestag by the traffic light groups and the Union was put to the vote not least under pressure from the CDU/CSU.
While this reference could be understood as indirect but clear criticism of the federal government, Merz immediately found words of praise for Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “The Chancellor is right in his word that not only the territory of Ukraine is being protected here,” said Merz. That alone would be reason enough to help the country with weapons. “But we also protect and defend our democracy, our freedom,” said Merz. “We all hope that this war will end as soon as possible.”
More than an hour at Zelenskyj
Merz reported little about his meeting with Selenskyj. It was “a very detailed, very long conversation” that lasted well over an hour. He had agreed with the President that he would first report to the Federal Chancellor before he spoke about it publicly. Selenskyj connects “that with a lot of hope that we will help him and that we will stick with this help”.
Merz emphatically demanded that Germany play a leading role in Ukraine’s envisaged EU accession. He is “very” in favor of Ukraine being granted EU accession candidate status. “There are a lot of hopes in our country,” emphasized Merz. “Germany must play a strong role, a leadership role in the European Union.”
Melnyk was also an issue
When asked, Merz said that he had also spoken to Selenskyj about the failed visit by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Kyiv. He did not reveal details about it. Also when asked, Merz quietly criticized the debate about the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk. “I think we should try rhetorically to get to a level where we don’t make mutual help unnecessarily difficult,” said Merz.
Melnyk called Scholz an offended liver sausage after he said on ZDF on Monday evening that he would not be traveling to Kyiv for the time being because Steinmeier had been unloaded from Ukraine when he was traveling to Kiev with the heads of state of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia wanted to.