Scholz under fire as German delegation visits Ukraine

Olaf Scholz has been under pressure to go to Ukraine in the wake of other Western politicians’ visits, according to an AFP source.

Strack-Zimmermann of the FDP, Roth of Scholz’s Social Democrats and Anton Hofreiter of the Greens met with members of the Ukrainian parliament in the west of the nation, according to a source. This confirms a Der Spiegel magazine account.

There was no additional explanation given by Roth’s spokeswoman, who claimed they were “on their way to Ukraine” for “security concerns.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in February and the German parliament’s defence, foreign affairs and Europe committee chairs made their first trip to Ukraine since then.

After Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, two more high-ranking European Union officials, have visited in recent days, Scholz’s detractors have wondered why he isn’t making the trip.

“Scholz was waving at an election campaign rally in Luebeck” ahead of an upcoming regional vote, the Bild daily said, while Johnson was “walking side by side with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv,” according to the newspaper.

“I hope our chancellor would follow (the example of) the other leaders and obtain a sense of the reality on the ground,” said the conservative foreign policy specialist Roderich Kiesewetter.

Even though he had made a stunning U-turn in Germany’s defence strategy in the wake of Russia’s invasion, Scholz has come under pressure for his reluctance to deliver heavy weaponry to Ukraine.

The war in Ukraine has prompted Germany to deploy anti-tank weaponry, missile launchers, and surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine, which had previously been unwilling to do so because of its history.

Critics, on the other hand, want Scholz to go even farther and deploy heavier weaponry like as tank-sized vehicles..

On Tuesday, three prominent lawmakers paid a visit to Ukraine, and they all advocated for the delivery of heavy weaponry to the country.

At an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, Annalena Baerbock expressed her support for such a move.

Baerbock’s position, Roth said on Deutschlandfunk, was “absolutely accurate,” and Ukraine must be able to “deal with Russia from a position of strength and preparation.” Roth said.

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