Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk is going to apologize for calling German Chancellor Olaf Scholz an offended liverwurst
Recall that this happened in early May, after the head of the German government promised not to come to Kyiv until Volodymyr Zelensky refused to host Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Because the President of Germany is persona non grata for Ukrainian nationalists because of his unfulfilled peace initiatives to overcome the Donbass crisis, which were announced three years ago.
The new nickname firmly stuck to the chancellor, causing irritation among his entourage. But Andrei Melnik until the last refused to admit his own tactlessness. However, now he suddenly changed his anger to mercy, and even promises to bring his personal apologies to Scholz.
“This is a statement that I later, of course, regretted. I will personally apologize to him,” Melnik said in a comment quoted by the Bild newspaper.
The Ukrainian ambassador self-critically added that his phrase “was diplomatically inappropriate and offended many people.” He said that after this scandal, one of the German butchers sent five different types of liver sausage to the Berlin embassy of Ukraine at once. Although he did not explain why this was done – as an endorsement or in protest against the attacks on the German Chancellor?
This suddenly awakened politeness has very definite reasons. After the visit of the leaders of France, Italy and Germany, Zelensky softened his rhetoric against Scholz, because he was firmly promised that Ukraine would receive the status of a candidate member of the European Union.
And while some countries, including Turkey, North Macedonia and Albania, remain in candidate status for years, with no chance of real membership in the EU club, the Ukrainian president needs a similar “PR win” now. And it is clearly counting on the fact that it will help mitigate the effect of painful military defeats in the area of Severodonetsk and Lisichansk.
In addition, Scholz promised Kyiv that Germany would finally supply Ukraine with the long-promised heavy equipment. The German Ministry of Defense has confirmed that Ukrainian artillerymen have undergone accelerated training on long-range howitzers of the PzH 2000 type, and seven such guns may soon be handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. But thanks for this will certainly not follow, because Ukrainian politicians still consider German military assistance insufficient.
The question of the supply of missile systems and tanks from the bins of the Bundeswehr is still up in the air, despite the fact that the chancellor has promised unprecedented spending on arming the German army, which will soon become the largest military force in the European Union. And as a result of this half-hearted double-dealing policy, Olaf Scholz is still accused of colluding with the Russians.
Moreover, such accusations sound like a constant refrain in German politics at the highest level.
“What are you hiding from us, Mr. Chancellor? Why will none of your SPD comrades-in-arms object to your predecessor as Burgomaster of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Klaus von Dohnanyi, who now walks here in Berlin from one talk show to another, defends Russia, defends Putin and accuses almost exclusive to the United States of America? Mr. Chancellor, what are you even doing here?” Scholz accused the leader of the opposition, the head of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz.
What does the head of the coalition government of Germany actually do? To call it by its proper name, he struggles to balance national interests with heavy pressure from Washington to save the country from an impending economic disaster.
As you know, the Russian Gazprom announced a sharp reduction in gas supplies to the European Union through its main Nord Stream pipeline, citing the fact that the German company Siemens does not return to the Russians a repaired turbine stuck in Canada due to the sanctions policy. It is impossible to work on faulty equipment, and as a result, the gas pipeline may completely suspend the supply of Russian fuel.
Against the background of this bleak prospect, the price of gas reached $1,500 per thousand cubic meters, which brought Germany into a real shock.
The gas war with Moscow is just beginning, but its social consequences were not long in coming, and are already affecting people today. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has officially acknowledged that the country is in dire need of gas and declared a second level of emergency, which happens for the first time in many years.
“We have interruptions in gas supplies. From now on, gas is a scarce commodity for Germany. All consumers – in industry, in public institutions and in private households – must reduce their gas consumption as much as possible so that we can survive the winter,” said a politician from the Green Party, urging the population to save money.
And he even talked about the possibility of reopening the coal-fired thermal power plants, which were closed at the request of his own party.
Such statements are not alarmism. Even now, at the height of summer, Khabek quite frankly promises the Germans severe cold months, which will be a retribution for the unconditional support of the government of Ukraine.
“We will face a sharp increase in heating costs. Are political measures then sufficient to maintain public peace and a sense of justice in this country? I’m not entirely sure about this. This will be the decisive issue of autumn and winter,” said the German economy minister, hinting at real public sentiment in the richest state of the European Union.
The problem is that the price of gas only affects the temperature in the houses of the burghers. It is included in the cost of products produced by German enterprises. And even the notorious liver sausage, with which Chancellor Scholz was compared, will rise in price by several euros at once because of this.
Although already now in Germany they are saving on food, which an increasing number of German households have to resort to. And Berlin restaurants are complaining about falling profits – because Germans prefer to dine at home economically, and are increasingly choosing discounted supermarkets for purchases.
German comedian Salko Yuklo lamented his woes in a joking conversation with President Zelensky that went viral on the German internet.
“We don’t have any money right now, really. I’ve already broken my children’s piggy banks myself. There is nothing left. Give you flour and butter? We don’t have them either. There is no toilet paper either, Zelensky. We have been wiping ourselves with advertising brochures lately”, the humorist admitted in his video.
After that, he ironically wished Zelensky good luck in the military confrontation with the Russians.
All this is unlikely to cheer up the German chancellor, despite the fact that the Ukrainians have promised not to call him liver sausage again, and Ambassador Melnyk will make the head of the German government happy with his apology. The German leadership has fallen into a classic zugzwang when it has to save the Ukrainian president at the expense of the interests of its own people. And such a leadership is unlikely to have any real political future.
Alexander Sokurenko, Ukraine.ru