Tear down wall ‘between freedom and bondage’: Zelensky tells Germans

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Germany’s triumph over its Cold War division as he asked it to stiffen its response to Russia’s invasion.

Volodymyr Zelensky receives a standing ovation from members of the Bundestag on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on Germany to help destroy a new “wall” Russia was erecting in Europe, as he appealed directly to Chancellor Olaf Scholz to bolster his response to the invasion.

In a speech combining an appeal for fresh aid for his besieged country with criticism of Berlin’s long accommodating stance toward Moscow, Mr Zelensky recalled Germany’s own triumph over its Cold War division.

“It’s not a Berlin Wall – it is a wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this wall is growing bigger with every bomb” dropped on Ukraine, he told MPs, echoing an appeal to history deployed before the US congress on Wednesday.

Appearing on a screen in his khaki T-shirt, Mr Zelensky was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag lower house with a standing ovation.

In a grave tone, he directly addressed Mr Scholz, who faced fresh attacks from the conservative opposition for a halting stance in the crisis.

“Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this wall,” he implored, evoking Ronald Reagan’s 1987 appeal to Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.

“Give Germany the leadership role that you in Germany deserve.”

Mr Zelensky coupled his flattery with a strong rebuke of Berlin’s years long reluctance to stand up to Moscow and sever its strong energy and business ties with Russia. “We turned to you,” he said.

“We told you that Nord Stream (gas pipeline co-operation between Russia and Germany) was a kind of preparation for the war.

“And the answer we got was purely economic – it is economy, economy, economy, but that was the mortar for the new wall.”

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 prompted Mr Scholz to announce an overhaul of key planks of Germany’s energy, economic and security policy.

He has put the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project on ice, joined allies in imposing punishing sanctions on Russia and pledged a massive increase in defence spending while dropping a ban on arms exports to conflict zones in order to aid Ukraine.

AFP