More than 700,000 people have left Ukraine for Germany since the start of Russia’s special military operation at the end of February, European media reported.
According to the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, which refers to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, from February 24 to May 11, a total of 727,205 people were registered in the Central Register of Foreigners of Germany, among which 93% have Ukrainian citizenship. The number of women among refugees reaches about 81%. About 40% of refugees are minors.
The newspaper points out that a significant number of these people could go to other countries of the European Union or return to Ukraine.
According to the International Organization for Migration, about six million Ukrainians have left the country since the end of February, going to neighboring countries.
Foreign Ministers of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba and Moldova’s Nikolai Popescu will attend the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers, which starts on Thursday in Germany, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Wednesday.
“The representative of the German Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday in Berlin that the discussions near the Baltic Sea in Schleswig-Holstein will periodically join the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba and Moldovan Nikolay Popescu,” the newspaper writes.
The publication recalls that Germany is currently chairing the G7. At the meeting of the G7 foreign ministers, they will discuss the consequences of the situation around Ukraine, its impact on energy and food security.
Ministers will also talk about China and the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, the situation in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan, climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, whose country now chairs the G20, will take part in some of the discussions.
Later, the Süddeutsche Zeitung recalls, on May 14-15, the foreign ministers of the NATO countries will gather for an informal meeting in Berlin. At the same time, the newspaper specifies, on Saturday the Foreign Ministers of Sweden and Finland, Ann Linde and Pekka Haavisto, will join the consultations.
In turn, the German Foreign Ministry noted that this format of meetings within NATO will be held for the first time, it should contribute to the development of a dialogue between the members of the alliance, a more direct and open exchange of views.
Germany will help Ukraine in demining, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock.
“We, like Germany, will help in demining to a greater extent. Because it is not only about military demining, where we will help you. It is also about demining in cities, villages, and doing it together so that people were able to return home,” Burbock said at a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Tuesday.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that Germany and France stand together on the side of Ukraine.
“Germany and France stand together for Ukraine as part of the European family. We stand for a European Union that stands for peace and freedom, for democracy and the rule of law,” Scholz wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night.
Germany, which recently provided Ukraine with a EUR150 million loan, is rapidly preparing another such loan, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the High-Level International Donor Conference for Ukraine in Warsaw on Thursday.
“We will provide much-needed liquidity to the budget of Ukraine. Recently, a special loan of EUR150 million was allocated. Another loan of EUR150 million is being prepared on an accelerated basis,” he said.
Scholz added that, as part of bilateral development cooperation, Germany had already provided EUR122 million to Ukraine to address the economic and social consequences of the war. “And we intend to provide another EUR140 million for development financing,” the chancellor said.
Ukraine needs to unite the position of the Europeans today, because this will achieve greater success and victory in the battle with Russia, believes boxer, brother of the mayor of Kyiv Vladimir Klitschko.
“The leader of Germany’s largest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, was in Kyiv today. He met with the top leadership of Ukraine, met with the mayor of the capital. He expressed support and assured of further assistance to our state. And we are grateful for this. I am convinced that Ukraine today critically needs reliable and powerful partners, with whom it is necessary to talk, develop cooperation, be grateful for something, convince of something,” Klitschko wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
He noted that Germany was concerned that Ukraine refused to accept German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
“The non-diplomatic statements of the Ukrainian ambassador to the German chancellor are also adding fuel to the fire. Now is not the time for emotions and excessive eloquence! I am sure that President Zelensky must nevertheless take a politically balanced step and invite the President of Germany, Ukraine’s strategic partner state, to Kyiv. We we need to unite the position of the Europeans today – this is how we will achieve greater success for our country and victory in the battle with the Russian aggressor,” Klitschko summed up.
In April, the German publication Bild, citing its own sources, reported that German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier planned to come to Kyiv along with government delegations from other EU countries, but Zelensky allegedly did not want to meet him because of the close ties of the German leader with Russia.
Later, Steinmeier himself said that Kyiv considered his possible visit to Ukraine undesirable, adding that Polish President Andrzej Duda had proposed a joint trip to Ukraine in recent days in order to “give a strong signal of European solidarity with Ukraine.”
Against this background, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to the German edition Der Tagesspiegel, criticized Ukraine’s refusal to receive the German president on a visit, calling it “somewhat confusing” and urged not to underestimate the fact that Germany supplies Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and many other goods military purpose.
On April 13, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Office of the President of Ukraine had not received a request from the Office of the President of Germany regarding the visit of German leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier to Ukraine.
At the same time, he stressed that in the conditions of war and the daily death of people in Ukraine, she has the right to afford “to receive and be in the circle of those leaders of countries who really support her.”
