German politicians reacted with obvious annoyance yesterday Wednesday to the the refusal of the Ukrainian leadership to receive Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Kiev.
«Insulting», «somewhat embarrassing»: the descriptions of this gesture by the Ukrainian government vary in Berlin, where it is even referred to as interference in German politics.
Steinmeier was due to travel to Kiev yesterday, Wednesday, along with leaders of the Baltic states, to express Germany's support for Ukraine following the Russian military invasion of 24 February. But the federal president, a veteran of German politics and a longtime foreign minister, revealed the day before yesterday (Tuesday) that he was informed that is considered «unwelcome» in Kiev and the Ukrainian side later made it clear that it would prefer to receive Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Both Mr Steinmeier and Mr Scholz belong to the Social Democrats (SPD).
Last Wednesday night the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Berlin had never officially informed him that such a trip was planned. «I as president and my office never received any official information or request from the federal president or his agencies about a visit to Ukraine,» Zelensky said, according to the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.
The episode is set against the background of the clashes between Berlin and Kiev over German support for the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian government accuses the German government of many things: giving in to Russia in the face of the outbreak of war, delay in the delivery of heavy weapons requested by the Ukrainian armed forces, delay in the embargo on Russian energy.
In any case, the way Mr Steinmeier was treated caused great annoyance in Germany. For Chancellor Scholz, Kiev's attitude is «somewhat irritating». «The president wanted to go to Kiev (...) it would be good to welcome him,» he added.
The Foreign Minister of Germany, Annalena Burbank, for her part said she had discussed the planned trip with the federal president and thought it «made sense». She expressed her «regret» because it did not happen.
Rolf Mitchenich, a prominent SPD leader, also called it «regrettable» that Steinmeier was not invited, saying it «does an injustice to the close and growing ties between our two countries». In addition, Mitchenich warned the Ukrainian government against any «interference in internal political issues in our country».
Wolfgang Kubicki, a leading member of the Free Democrats (FDP), a partner in Olaf Scholz's government, said the gesture probably erased the possibility that the chancellor would actually visit Kiev. «I cannot imagine that the chancellor of a government in which the FDP is a member would travel to a country that has declared our head of state an undesirable person,» he told the German news agency.
On the opposition side, Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), called it a «diplomatic insult», and was quick to add in the Rheinische Post newspaper that the incident shows the «very deep reservations» of the Eastern European states about the SPD's policy towards Russia.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksii Arestovich defended the decision not to accept the German president, whose office is mainly of a ceremonial nature, but to invite Chancellor Solts. «Our president is expecting (in Kiev) the chancellor so that immediate, tangible decisions can be taken, including decisions on the delivery of weapons to Ukraine,» Mr. Arestovitch told German public television network ARD yesterday (Wednesday).
