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The ambassadors of Poland and Ukraine, Jan Tombinski and Oleksii Makeiev hope that an effective government will be formed in Germany as quickly as possible that can make decisions on security issues. “It is important that the vacuum does not last too long,” said Tombinski on Monday at the new Polish embassy in Berlin on the magnificent Unter den Linden boulevard. In view of the biggest war in Europe since 1945, the continent must gain more autonomy in defense and armaments. “And it will be difficult without Germany.” Makeiev emphasized that Germany is Ukraine's most important partner in Europe and that he hopes that Germany will play a leading role. Signals from the Union, which emerged as the strongest party in the Bundestag elections (28.5%) and, with Friedrich Merz, is likely to be the next Federal Chancellor, called Makeiev “future-oriented” “We are confident that we will not be left alone even during the transition period. We don't have time, every minute of hesitation costs lives.” Both ambassadors had jointly accepted an invitation from korrespondenten.café to mark the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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According to Tombinski, Poland wants to use the current EU Council Presidency to strengthen Ukraine's ties to the EU, including with regard to accession negotiations. “The weakness of us democrats is that we often say and announce more than we do.” It is now necessary to exert as much economic pressure as possible on Russia so that it can no longer afford the war. With regard to American President Donald Trump's statement that Ukraine had started the war, the Polish ambassador, who was EU representative in Kiev during the Maidan protests in 2013/2014, warned that it was always necessary to keep an eye on who was the victim and who was the aggressor. He called denying facts moral corruption. Makeiev emphasized that a perpetrator-victim repentance is a sign of “insane weakness.” You can only negotiate with Russia from a position of strength and not draw red lines before negotiations — such as renouncing Ukraine's membership of NATO. Or let Ukraine alone pay the price for peace.

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According to Tombinski, Polish politicians in Washington were just trying to explain what mistakes should not be made when negotiating with Russia. His method is to want to check as many sides of the table as possible. Both diplomats agreed that Europe and Ukraine must participate in the peace negotiations that Washington and Moscow have just begun. “If this is our war, as the Americans have told us, then we must also sit at the table,” says Makeiev. However, what means Europeans could use to achieve participation — both had no answer to this question.

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In Makeiev's opinion, his country should also learn a lesson from the federal elections and the high electoral success of the pro-Russian AfD. The fact that almost the entire East of Germany has voted blue (party color of the AfD) worries Ukrainians. “We must learn from this when we liberate our areas in Ukraine (from Russia) so that they do not vote blue even after 30 years. ” gd

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