31.05.2022: Oil embargo against Russia
Brussels (dpa) – The EU member states have agreed on a compromise in the dispute over the planned oil embargo against Russia. At Hungary’s insistence, only seaborne Russian oil shipments are to be banned for the time being, as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed early on Tuesday after consultations with the heads of state and government in Brussels. Deliveries by pipeline will continue to be possible for now. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) nevertheless spoke of drastic sanctions against Russia. According to von der Leyen, EU oil imports from Russia will be reduced by about 90 percent by the end of the year, despite the exemption for pipeline deliveries. The explanation for this figure is that Germany and Poland have already made it clear that they do not wish to take advantage of the exemption for pipeline oil.
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30.05.2022: Music show for Ukraine in Berlin
Berlin (dpa) – By staging a show in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, music stars from Ukraine reminded people about the war that has been raging in their homeland for almost 100 days and appealed for donations for hospitals. Around 15,000 spectators came to watch the marathon fundraiser on Sunday evening. Ukrainian TV stations broadcast the charity event live, with stations from other countries also picking it up. Video messages from numerous international celebrities and politicians were shown during the show, including one from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The SPD politician assured the people in Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, of Germany’s solidarity. “We stand with you,” he said in English. “Our hearts and thoughts are with you – today, like every day since Russia attacked your country.” A performance cheered by the live audience was given by this year’s Eurovision Song Contest winners, Kalush Orchestra. They performed their song “Stefania” with which they won the 66th ESC in Turin two weeks ago.
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29.05.2022: Minister Schulze pledges reconstruction aid to Ukraine
Kyiv (dpa) – The German government intends to provide Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, with immediate aid amounting to millions of euros to support its reconstruction efforts. Development Minister Svenja Schulze said in the badly damaged Kyiv suburb of Borodyanka that this could not wait until the war was over, adding that 185 million euros had already been approved for emergency aid measures, especially for housing and power lines. “Ukrainians simply need water and electricity. Those who have fled within Ukraine need a roof over their heads, children need to be able to go back to school, and all of this requires support,” Schulze said.
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28.05.2022: UN supports German aid for refugees from Ukraine
UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe will be providing 900,000 euros to support German projects and initiatives to help refugees from Ukraine. The first special funding in UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe’s history under the “Emergency Aid Ukraine” programme will take the form of one-off grants averaging 20,000 euros for state and municipal refugee councils, psychosocial centres and welfare associations, as well as for independent and regional associations from all parts of Germany. UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe is the German partner of the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. (d.de)
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27.05.2022: Great interest in integration
Refugees from Ukraine are showing great interest in integration courses, according to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. As the newspaper “Welt” reports, more than 80,000 authorisations to participate have already been issued. Of these, around 17,000 people have already started their course. The BAMF expects the numbers to rise sharply in the coming weeks. “We have well-educated participants who are studying with great enthusiasm,” said Benjamin Beckmann, head of the BAMF’s integration course department.
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25.05.2022: Heil: G7 labour markets should offer refugees comprehensive protection
Wolfsburg (dpa) – Refugees from Ukraine should receive the most comprehensive protection possible in the labour markets and social systems of the G7 countries. German Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said after consultations with colleagues in Wolfsburg on Tuesday that it was important to him that all leading Western industrialised countries had committed themselves to this. The goal, he said, was “decent, fair and good” treatment – which could include further steps if necessary or in the case of longer stays. “We want them to be well provided for, also in terms of medical care,” Heil said. “And we will remove any barriers that there are in practice.” He was referring, for example, to the recognition of qualifications, help with childcare or language courses. Heil had agreed that many war refugees might stay longer in Germany and look for permanent jobs. This had now also been discussed within the G7 framework, he said.
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24.05.2022: Lindenberg goes on tour with peace song
Schwerin (dpa) – Udo Lindenberg is to tour Germany again for the first time after two years of the coronavirus pandemic. “Udopium Live 2022” starts on Tuesday evening in Schwerin. Lindenberg fans can look forward to many new songs, as well as some old favourites. Against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the dedicated rock star will also sing his roughly 40-year-old peace ballad “Wozu sind Kriege da” (i.e. What are wars for). Lindenberg, who also paints, recently auctioned off eight large banners with anti-war motifs for almost 40,000 euros. The proceeds will go to Unicef emergency aid for children in Ukraine.
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23.05.2022: Habeck in favour of a united European oil embargo against Russia
Berlin (dpa) – Ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, German Economics Minister Robert Habeck has spoken out in favour of an oil embargo against Russia jointly supported by the European Union. The negotiations should be led by the European Commission, the Green politician said on Deutschlandfunk radio on Monday. He spoke of concerted action in which the European Union must lead the way.
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22.05.2022: Fundraising for Ukraine
Frankfurt (d.de) – The willingness of people in Germany to donate money for the victims of the Ukraine war continues unabated. Large numbers of solidarity events and bazaars take place all over the country, especially at weekends. For example, the German Association of Vietnamese Refugees collects donations at church services, German and Ukrainian choirs sing at a benefit concert in Leipzig, a radio presenter from the Hessischer Rundfunk broadcasting corporation plays music on request in exchange for a donation, and primary school pupils in Dernbach take part in a sponsored fun run on the sports field. It is difficult to calculate exactly how much has been raised, but experts suspect that it is significantly in excess of 750 million euros.
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21.05.2022: Defence minister announces further support for Ukraine
Berlin (dpa) – In talks with her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksiy Reznikov, Germany’s Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht has announced further aid for Ukraine. Ukraine will receive the first 15 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns from German industry stocks in July 2022. The package also includes training support from the Bundeswehr, the provision of almost 60,000 rounds of ammunition and a delivery of a further 15 anti-aircraft guns before the end of the summer.
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20.05.2022: Germany to provide Ukraine with around one billion euros in budget support
Königswinter (dpa) – Germany plans to help Ukraine by providing short-term budget support of around one billion euros. This was announced by German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) on Thursday at the meeting of G7 finance ministers on the Petersberg near Bonn. The money is to help close the war-torn country’s liquidity gap. According to information from the Finance Ministry, Ukraine has requested monthly aid of around 5 billion euros for a period of three months. Ukraine needs the money to pay the salaries of state employees, for example. The billion euros from Germany is intended as a grant, not a loan, Lindner said.
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19.05.2022: Baerbock: Russia is using hunger as a weapon of war
New York (dpa) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has accused Russia of using the blockade of grain exports from Ukraine as a weapon of war. “By blockading Ukrainian ports and by destroying silos, roads and railways, and especially farmers’ fields, Russia has launched a grain war that is fuelling a global food crisis,” Baerbock said during a meeting of foreign ministers at the United Nations in New York. According to the German government, Russia is preventing Ukraine from exporting 20 million tonnes of grain, mainly to North Africa and Asia, much of it at the port of Odessa. Ukraine is one of the largest grain producers in the world.
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18.05.2022: Zelenskiy: Phone call with Scholz “fairly productive”
Kiev (dpa) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken on the phone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The latter described the conversation as “fairly productive.” As Zelenskiy announced in his daily video address on Wednesday night, military support for Ukraine was discussed, among other things. The president said that he had briefed Scholz on the current military situation and its possible future development.
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17.05.2022: Photo exhibition on “Ukraine: the price of freedom” in the Bundestag
“Ukraine: the price of freedom”, a photo exhibition by the Ukrainian Embassy in Berlin about Ukraine’s current situation in the war, is being shown in the German Bundestag until 20 May 2022. Photographs depict the pain and suffering of peaceful people as well as the once beautiful and prosperous Ukrainian cities that have now been destroyed.
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16.05.2022: Education minister wants to give Ukrainian pupils the chance to graduate
Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) wants to enable all Ukrainian pupils who are about to take their final school exams to do so in Germany. She told the newspaper “taz am wochenende”: “I would like all pupils who are about to take their final school exams to be able to do so in Germany. After all, this is a basic requirement for beginning vocational training or university studies. We should definitely make that possible for them.” She added that she was engaged in talks to this end with her Ukrainian counterparts and Germany’s federal states, though she admitted that many details still needed to be clarified – such as who should coordinate and give the final examinations. The idea is for the Ukrainian pupils to take the same exams they would have at home.
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15.05.2022: Faeser: Still a great willingness to help
Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has noted a slowing in the influx of war refugees from Ukraine. “Currently, only about 2,000 refugees from Ukraine are arriving in Germany each day. In mid-March, there were still 15,000 people a day,” Faeser told the “Rheinische Post” newspaper. She said that 20,000 refugees a day were also returning to their country via the Polish-Ukrainian border, including some from Germany. Nevertheless, a considerable humanitarian effort is still needed to provide the best possible care for the women, children and elderly who have fled, Faeser stressed. In her view, there is still a great willingness to help in Germany. “The refugees receive a very good reception here – there has been no change in sentiment.”
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13.05.2022: Lauterbach: Support to maintain healthcare in Ukraine
Berlin (dpa) – German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has promised Ukraine further German support to maintain medical care during the war. As the SPD politician announced on Twitter on Thursday following a video conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, this is mainly a question of establishing trauma centres for burn victims and providing prosthetics. Lauterbach stressed that Ukraine needed not only heavy weapons, “but also our solidarity to provide the population with medical care.”
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12.05.2022: Bundeswehr flies war-wounded Ukrainians to Germany
Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s Bundeswehr is running another evacuation flight to transport war-wounded Ukrainians from Poland to Germany. The Air Force’s special A310 MedEvac aircraft took off from Cologne on Thursday morning. After picking up the casualties in Poland, the plane was to land later in Frankfurt am Main. In recent weeks, the aircraft has been repeatedly used to bring seriously injured children and adults to Germany for treatment so that they can be given better medical care. The A310 MedEvac is the Air Force’s flying intensive care unit. Casualties receive further treatment in the air from paramedics.
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11.05.2022: Germans donate record amount for Ukraine
By the end of April, 752 million euros had been donated in Germany for people in and from Ukraine. This represents the highest volume of donations for a single disaster in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, as the news magazine “Spiegel” reports, citing a survey by the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI). The previous donation record was 670 million euros for the tsunami victims in Southeast Asia in 2004, followed by 631 million euros in aid following last year’s disastrous flooding in Germany.
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10.05.2022: Ukrainian pupils mostly in normal classes
Berlin (dpa) – According to a survey, most refugee children from Ukraine in Germany are taught together with pupils from Germany rather than in separate classes. In a representative survey of teachers conducted on behalf of the Robert Bosch Stiftung, 78 percent of those whose schools had already taken in Ukrainian children or young people said that they were taught wholly or partly in normal classes. Only 18 percent of the respondents taught them exclusively in separate so-called welcome classes. In the survey period from the beginning to the middle of April, schools in Germany had taken in about 60,000 pupils from Ukraine, according to surveys conducted by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany. The figure has meanwhile risen to more than 90,000.
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09.05.2022: Bundestag president in Kyiv to commemorate end of World War II
Kyiv (dpa) – On the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas has sent a signal of Germany’s solidarity with Ukraine, which is under attack from Russia, by visiting Kyiv. On Sunday, she commemorated the victims of the Second World War in the capital together with her counterpart Ruslan Stefanchuk. Both laid wreaths at the tomb of the unknown soldier. Bas said that the ceremony had been “very moving”, adding that for her, as a representative of the country responsible for the Second World War with all its atrocities, it was a big step to be able to do this together with the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament. Stefanchuk, who had invited Bas to Ukraine, thanked her for coming on 8 May. “For us, this is truly a sign of Germany’s solidarity with Ukraine and with the Ukrainian people.”
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08.05.2022: Bundestag President Bas arrives in Kyiv
Kyiv (dpa) – Bundestag President Bärbel Bas arrived in Kyiv on Sunday, where she plans to take part in commemorative events marking the end of World War II in Europe 77 years ago. The SPD politician is the second highest-ranking representative of Germany after the federal president and thus the most important German politician to visit Ukraine since the start of the Russian war of aggression. She had been invited by Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk.
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07.05.2022: Scholz warns of “international disorder”
Berlin/Hamburg (dpa) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sees the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as also posing a threat to the international order. At an event in Hamburg, the chancellor said that there was a threat of “international disorder” if Russian President Vladimir Putin got away with it. “Putin must not win this criminal war of aggression against Ukraine – and he will not win this war.” The chancellor plans to address the nation in a televised address on Sunday. The same day, Scholz will discuss the current situation in Ukraine with the partners of the G7 states during a video conference call. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will also take part in the call. In addition to Germany, the G7 group also includes France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the USA.
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06.05.2022: German government announces further financial aid
Warsaw (dpa)- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced further financial aid for Ukraine at the international donor conference in Warsaw. Scholz said that Germany had already provided 430 million euros to mitigate the catastrophic consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine for global food security. “Today we are pledging a further 125 million euros for humanitarian aid and measures to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience against Russian aggression.” In addition, Germany will supply Ukraine with seven type 2000 self-propelled howitzers. An agreement had been reached on this, said Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht. Germany had previously raised the prospect of supplying Gepard anti-aircraft tanks.
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05.05.2022: Steinmeier: “We Germans support Ukraine wholeheartedly”
Bucharest (dpa) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has once again assured Ukraine of Germany’s full solidarity and has also shown himself open to talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. “We Germans support Ukraine wholeheartedly,” Steinmeier said in the Romanian capital Bucharest. He said that this support was expressed by visits like the one he was now making to Romania – “and of course also in exchanges with my Ukrainian counterpart, whenever that may be possible”. Steinmeier also assured Romania of German support in the event of Russian aggression. “Our alliance solidarity applies with no ifs and buts.” Romania is a member of the EU and Nato.
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04.05.2022: Significantly more Ukrainian children at schools
Berlin (dpa) -The number of children and young people who have fled Ukraine and have been admitted to schools in Germany has risen significantly to almost 92,000. This is shown by current figures from the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs (KMK). A week earlier, the number of registered pupils had still been around 65,000. Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on 24 February, Germany’s federal police have registered more than 400,000 refugees from Ukraine in Germany, mostly women, children and senior citizens. Since Ukrainians can enter the country without a visa, the actual number of war refugees who have sought protection in Germany is probably higher.
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03.05.2022: Baerbock pays tribute to work of journalists in Ukraine
Berlin (dpa) Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has paid tribute to the work done by journalists during the war in Ukraine. “Your work not only commands great respect from us, it is irreplaceable and at the same time life-threatening – at least ten media workers have been killed in Ukraine since the beginning of the war of aggression,” Baerbock said on World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday. She added that in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which violates international law, as well as in numerous other conflicts, media professionals, being the first witnesses, often played a key role in documenting armed conflicts. “They are the mouthpiece of the victims, who would otherwise not be heard and would not be visible, they document human rights violations but also war crimes.” She said that their mission was all the more important because Moscow was accompanying its war of aggression with targeted disinformation campaigns
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02.05.2022: Scholz assures Ukraine of comprehensive support
Düsseldorf (dpa) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised Ukraine further, comprehensive support. “We will continue to support Ukraine, with money and with humanitarian aid; however, and this must also be said, we will support it so that it is able to defend itself, with arms deliveries, as many other countries in Europe are also doing,” Scholz said at a Labour Day rally. At the same time, he made an appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Let the weapons be silent! Withdraw your troops! Respect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine!”
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01.05.2022: Baerbock calls for withdrawal of all Russian soldiers
Berlin (dpa) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees the withdrawal of all Russian soldiers from Ukraine as a prerequisite for lasting peace in Europe and an end to sanctions against Russia. “A ceasefire can be only a first step,” the minister told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Though the goal of Germany and Europe in the Ukraine war was peace, she said that it was about more than the absence of war. Rather, it was about ensuring that people could live in freedom. Baerbock said that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had “irretrievably shattered” the European peace order, and added: “As much as we may wish for it, there is no way back to the time before 24 February. We can never again rely on Putin’s promises alone.”
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30.04.2022: German government condemns attack on Kyiv during Guterres visit
Berlin (dpa) -The German government has strongly condemned the Russian missile attack on Kyiv on the day of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ visit. “The actions of the Russian side are inhumane,” a government spokesperson said, adding that this also revealed once again before the eyes of the international community that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his regime “have no respect for international law”. According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian attacks, which claimed at least one life, occurred on Thursday evening while Guterres was still in the city. The UN secretary-general told the British broadcaster BBC: “I was shocked to hear that two missiles had exploded in the city where I was.”
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29.04.2022: Bundestag approves delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine
Berlin (dpa) -The German Bundestag has approved the delivery of arms, including heavy weapons, to Ukraine and passed with a broad majority a joint motion submitted by the governing coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP, and by the CDU/CSU, the largest opposition party. The motion calls on the German government to “continue and, where possible, accelerate the delivery of equipment and to expand the delivery to include heavy weapons and complex systems, for example within the framework of the ring exchange”. During a visit to Japan, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his gratitude for the Bundestag’s unequivocal vote: “This shows that it is possible in such challenging times to pursue a political strategy that many are then willing to support.” On Tuesday, the German government had approved the delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft tanks from the German defence industry.
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28.04.2022: Cultural and media aid to be increased
Berlin (dpa) – The German government is pledging an additional 20 million euros in cultural and media aid for Ukraine. According to a decision of the Federal Cabinet, this sum will be made available to further mitigate the effects of the war. “The Russian war of aggression is also aiming to destroy Ukraine’s culture and identity”, explained Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth. “That is why we are doing everything we can to protect Ukrainian cultural sites from Russia’s destructive fury.” She added that it was also important to safeguard independent reporting by supporting journalists who had fled the country to continue their work in exile in Germany.
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27.04.2022: Big donations at emotional charity match
Dortmund (dpa) – The goals were not the main event, and the sporting action on the pitch was little more than a bit of entertainment: at an emotional charity match between Borussia Dortmund and Dynamo Kyiv, fans and football stars expressed their solidarity with Ukraine. Around 35,000 spectators raised 400,000 euros for the victims of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Contrary to usual practice, the fans welcomed the visiting team with similarly warm applause as the home team. They cheered all the goals scored during the match, which Kyiv ultimately won 3:2. The money raised means that the German Bundesliga club has probably contributed the highest donations to the mission so far, the 16-time Ukrainian champion from Kyiv having already played similar friendlies in Warsaw, Istanbul and Cluj.
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Originally published at https://www.deutschland.de/en/news/ticker-solidarity-with-ukraine
