For security reasons, the program of Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s first visit to Germany is being kept secret. But Berlin announced an important guest gift on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has traveled to Germany for political talks for the first time since the Russian attack on his country. “Already in Berlin,” Zelenskyj tweeted early Sunday morning. “Weapons. Strong package. Air defence, reconstruction. EU. Nato. Security,” he added – keywords for possible topics of discussion in Berlin. For security reasons, Selenskyj’s exact program was initially not announced. It was expected that the guest from Kiev would be received by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
The Charlemagne Prize for European Merit, which was awarded to Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people in December, will be presented in Aachen on Sunday afternoon. In the justification, Zelenskyy’s role in repelling the Russian war of aggression was emphasized: he was not only the president of his people and the supreme commander of the Ukrainian army. He is “also the motivator, communicator, the motor and the link between Ukraine and the large phalanx of supporters”.
An Airbus A319 from the Air Force’s flight readiness department picked up Selenskyj in Rome on Saturday evening, as the Air Force announced on Twitter. Two Eurofighters took off from the Lechfeld air base in Bavaria and “escorted him safely to Berlin,” it said. The Air Force also released two photos – one from the plane’s window looking at one of the accompanying fighter jets, the other looking at the Airbus.
Green parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann told the German Press Agency that Europe wanted to set an example with the award: “We stand by the side of the Ukrainians.” They will not let up in their support for Ukraine – “humanitarian, economic and with weapons”. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) spoke of a “strong signal in times of war”. “With President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, a determined fighter for the values of a free Europe will be honored in Aachen.”
Last year, the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya and two fellow campaigners received the Charlemagne Prize, in 2021 the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis are also laureates. The Charlemagne Prize is not endowed.
New billion-dollar weapon support program
Selenskyj was last in Germany a few days before the start of the war in February 2022 at the Munich Security Conference. For the first ten months after the Russian invasion, he hadn’t left the country at all. He changed that at the end of last year. In the meantime, the Ukrainian President has been to Washington, Warsaw, Paris, London, Brussels, Helsinki and The Hague.
After the war began, Selenskyj accused the German government of being hesitant to deliver arms to Ukraine. At the latest since the promise of Leopard 2 main battle tanks, however, that has subsided. Germany is one of Ukraine’s most important supporters – both militarily and financially. Since the beginning of the war, the federal government has approved arms deliveries worth 2.75 billion euros.
The visit to Germany was prepared with the promise of further military support for Ukraine worth an additional 2.7 billion euros. Among other things, 20 more Marder armored personnel carriers, 30 Leopard 1 tanks and four Iris-T SLM anti-aircraft systems are to be provided by the German defense industry, as the Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday.
Source: Stern
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