Germany helps with 500 destroyed cultural sites in Ukraine. Finland’s prime minister calls for more weapons for Kyiv. All developments in the live blog.
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Germany helps with 500 destroyed cultural sites in Ukraine
Since July, Germany has supported the protection of endangered Ukrainian cultural assets with around four million euros. This is reported by the editorial network Germany. Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth announced further aid: “The people in Ukraine are also defending our culture of democracy, our social model of freedom and self-determination.” According to the Greens politician, more than 500 Ukrainian museums, theaters, concert halls, churches, monuments and archives have been destroyed or severely damaged by Russian rocket or bomb attacks. In view of the fact that cultural assets are being destroyed and stolen in the areas occupied by Russia, Roth said: “Obviously, Ukrainian culture is to be destroyed.”
According to this, Germany has delivered around 35 tons of packaging and restoration materials, fire protection equipment, documentation technology and 70 emergency power generators to Ukraine. Efforts are being made to help with the essentials in order to secure art and cultural treasures in Ukraine and protect them from damage, emphasized Roth.
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Finland’s prime minister calls for more weapons for Ukraine
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has called for more arms and other support for Russia-invaded Ukraine. One must ensure that Ukraine wins the war, Marin said in Auckland. It was the first visit by a Finnish head of government to New Zealand. When asked by a reporter what kind of soft power smaller states like Finland and New Zealand could exercise, Sarin replied: “We need hard power when it comes to Ukraine.”
The country needs weapons, financial and humanitarian support. “And we have to make sure that the refugees fleeing Ukraine are welcome in Europe.” After the Russian war of aggression began in late February, Finland and Sweden abandoned their longstanding line of military neutrality and applied for NATO membership. However, both countries are still waiting for Turkey’s approval of their accession. Each of the 30 NATO member countries must ratify the new admissions.