Chancellor Olaf Scholz is hosting the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on June 11 and doubled down on Germany’s support for Kyiv in its struggle against a Russian invasion.
However, following the European Parliament elections at the weekend’s sharp lurch to the right, the resurgent AfD right wing populist party boycotted the conference and has vowed to bring the war in Ukraine to an end. AfD has been accused of receiving financing from Moscow and has a general pro-Russia policy.
“Germany is standing by our side in our suffering and our pain,” Zelenskiy told German lawmakers in the Bundestag on June 11 to standing ovation, but tall the seats belonging to the AfD and the and the populist Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) party were empty.
The leaders of the AfD repeated one of the Kremlin’s leading talking points, saying Zelenskiy is ‘illegitimate”, after his term in office officially expired on May 24, but thanks to martial law Ukraine’s constitution forbids new elections.
“Now he is in office only as a president of war and a beggar,' they added, stating that Ukraine now needs a president of peace who is willing to negotiate.
“We refuse to listen to a speaker in camouflage,” said AfD national leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla in a statement, referring to Zelenskiy’s signature military uniform attire, Politico reports. “He is now only in office as a war and begging president. But Ukraine does not need a war president now, it needs a peace president who is willing to negotiate so that the dying stops and the country has a future.”
Only four of the 77 parliamentarians from the AfD attended, while all ten parliamentarians in the newly founded BSW boycotted Zelenskiy’s speech.
Nevertheless, European material support for Ukraine remains substantial. European banks pledged hundreds of millions of fresh funds to shore up the economy and rebuild destroyed power infrastructure, according to a series of agreements signed in Berlin.
The EU will provide €517mn via the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Ukraine also received a €100mn loan from the Council of Europe Development Bank in a project to rebuild destroyed housing.
Zelenskyy told the conference : 'We have already lost 80 percent of heat generation in Ukraine and a third of hydro energy generation,' and the country faces a bleak winter if more power cannot be found before the heating season starts.
Support for Ukraine amongst less extreme politicians has also become more muted in the face of growingUkraine fatigue amongst western allies, who have genuine concerns about the impact of Ukraine’s support on national finances and the security of their own countries.
“This week I am in Berlin and many policy makers and bureaucrats here still think they are doing charity to Ukraine. So, I had to bring back some reality,” Tymofiy Mylovanov, rector of the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) and former economics minister, said, who is one of the speakers at the Ukraine Recovery Conference. He complained that while the support for Ukraine is strong amongst the German leadership, it is weaker amongst the members of the Bundestag where deputies see the war in Ukraine as a zero-sum gain: supporting Ukraine weakens German security.
“German decision-makers talk about Ukraine's ingratitude, the need to 'settle' with Russia, and their extensive efforts to help Ukraine. What I see is different,” Mylovanov said in a thread posted on social media. “German officials prioritise process over outcomes and lack clear objectives. They discuss “realism” without comprehending Russia. Their leadership is weak, and voter disconnect limits their ability to solve real issues.”
“They see aid to Ukraine as a zero-sum game, equating it with diminished security for themselves. But these are politicians not at the top level. The meetings between Zelenskiy and Scholz today are different,” Mylovanov added. “They talk air-defence, patriots to Ukraine, a new package of military assistance, support to recover energy systems in Ukraine. Thus, I am now confused whether what I hear from lower ranking officials is just sabotage or incompetence or lack of accepting their leaders' views?”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, together with the US, announced on June 11 that100 new desperately needed Patriot air defence interceptor missiles are being delivered to Kyiv to Ukraine to shore up its air defences in the face of a devastating Russian barrage on its energy sector.
Long-term Ukraine’s recovery will take far more and enduring support with the rebuilding costs estimated to be $486bn over the next decade, or 2.8 times the country's entire value in 2023, the Ukrainian government said in a report.
