President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy took part in the "Germany's Role in the World" panel discussion organized by the Munich Security Conference (MSC), during which he addressed the candidates for the post of Federal Chancellor of Germany.
In a video address to the participants of the discussion, the Head of State stressed that September 26 will be an important day not only for them, but also for Ukraine.
“The Bundestag elections matter to us, because Germany is our key partner. It is an important party to the Normandy format and our ally on the way to the European community,” the President noted, adding that the vision of the future Federal Chancellor of the policy towards Ukraine is extremely important for him personally.
Therefore, Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the candidates with a number of questions.
“Do you agree that the European project will not be complete and full-fledged without Ukraine? Do you agree that Ukraine’s path to Europe should be a two-way street? Seven years have passed since the Revolution of Dignity, where hundreds of Ukrainians gave their lives for the European choice. Isn’t Europe tired of hiding from the question of Ukraine’s membership in the EU for so long? Isn’t it time to move from diplomatic evasions to clear answers, conditions, steps and deadlines?” the President asked.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy also reminded that about 100,000 Russian servicemen have been recently sent to the state borders of Ukraine. In this situation, all European leaders support the provision of appropriate security guarantees to our country, but at the same time Ukraine is not a NATO member.
“So if we are not in NATO, what kind of security guarantees are we talking about?” he asked.
In addition, the President asked the opinion of each of the candidates as regards the support for the Nord Stream 2 project, in particular whether it strengthens European security, contributes to the unity of the continent and whether this project is a trap for Ukraine and Europe.
“What do you think, are such reasons as Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine, over 14,000 dead in the war in Donbas and a million and a half people forced to leave their homes enough to not to consider seriously the idea of restoring the EU-Russia summits until the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine?” the President asked and thanked for honest answers.
The discussion was attended by Head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), North Rhine-Westphalia's State Premier Armin Laschet, Federal Minister of Finance and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD) Olaf Scholz and co-leader of the Alliance 90/The Greens Annalena Baerbock.
The participants answered key questions of concern to the international community: what should be Germany's role in the world, what consequences can be expected for its international and security policy in the context of transatlantic relations and beyond.