Berlin³
Steinmeier unwanted in Kyiv: the snubbed president
Persona non grata in Ukraine: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
© Jens Büttner / DPA
Frank-Walter Steinmeier wanted to travel to Kyiv with his Polish and Baltic counterparts. But President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected the act of solidarity. An affront and a tactical error, says our author.
During these hours he actually wanted to be on the night train to Kyiv. Along with his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda and the presidents of the three Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. It was a secret operation. Threaded by Duda. Coordinated with the Federal President. Approved by the Chancellor. It should have been a sign of solidarity. Expressly not only the worried Eastern European frontline states, but also one in which the Federal Republic of Germany participates, a nation from which “leadership” in Europe has repeatedly been demanded from the Ukraine in recent weeks.
But Frank-Walter Steinmeier had to admit, visibly contrite, early Tuesday evening on the grounds of the German ambassador’s residence in Warsaw that nothing would come of the secret plans. Instead of taking the train from Rzeszow in eastern Poland, I return to Berlin by plane. The Ukrainian side thwarted the plans at short notice. Steinmeier was summarily declared persona non grata by Kyiv. It is a one-time event that has broken a lot of diplomatic china.
Considerable foreign policy damage
The Federal President now has to pay for what the Ukrainian side has been accusing the Federal Republic of since the beginning of the war – the traffic light government is doing too little, is too hesitant in its aid, too hesitant in supplying arms and not being consistent enough in the implementation of economic sanctions against Russia. Under these circumstances, one obviously wanted to forgo Steinmeier’s symbolic support in the wake of the other Eastern European presidents. According to reports, the Ukrainian side complained in particular about the lack of support on the part of the German defense minister, who objected to arms deliveries to Ukraine, pointing out that the Bundeswehr would then no longer have sufficient stocks.
The foreign policy damage is considerable. It will probably only be possible to quantify it precisely in the next few days. The danger that Vladimir Putin will interpret Kiev’s unwillingness to show German solidarity as a split in the Western alliance cannot be dismissed out of hand.
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Frank-Walter Steinmeier: Experienced enough to stay cool
After this snub, Frank-Walter Steinmeier will have to use his strength not to make his own inner state the yardstick for future Eastern European policy. The same applies to Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, who has not exactly been seen as someone who has pushed ahead with the issue of aid to Ukraine.
However, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the charismatic Ukrainian president who has so far managed to persuade the West to show enormous solidarity with impressive appeals, has made a tactical mistake. Maybe not friends, but at least partners in need aren’t treated that way. It would be good if Selenskyj saw that and took a first step. In any case, the Federal President has been in the political business long enough to be able to remain cool even after this affront.