Germany has long forgiven the current Russian regime, because it was blinded by the narrative that its historical guilt from World War II concerns only Russia Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk said this in an interview with Espreso.
According to Melnyk, the issue of history is always a matter of politics, especially in relations with such an important but difficult partner – Germany.
The official said that the country reacted inadequately to the threat of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine because Germany believes that the damage caused during World War II concerns Russia. Melnyk believes that Ukraine is still somewhat absent from the “historical memory map”.
“We saw how Germany inadequately responded to our opinion about the threat of war on February 24, as German society and politicians were blinded by the narrative that their historical guilt, which they inflicted, concerns only Russia. Ukraine was absent from the map of historical memory, and unfortunately, this situation persists to some extent until now. That is why the German political community forgave the current Russian regime, the annexation of Crimea, and the Kremlin’s disregard of the Minsk agreements. The Germans turned a blind eye to all this because they believed that they could not tease the Russians, who, according to the story, owe German unity, which took place after almost 40 years of occupation of East Germany,” the deputy foreign minister said.
Furthermore, Melnyk supports President of Ukraine Zelenskyi’s initiative to celebrate Remembrance Day on 8 May, as he believes it is an opportunity to honour the Ukrainian contribution to the victory.
“Today’s initiative of our president seems to me the right step, because it was on May 8 that the act of surrender was signed, so it is worth honoring the millions of Ukrainian victims of Nazism and celebrating the contribution of Ukrainians to the victory, which has always been downplayed. And May 9, Europe Day, is a day aimed at our future as a member of the EU or NATO,” he said.
The Germans have turned a blind eye to all this, believing that they cannot tease the Russians, who, among other things, owe the German unity that occurred after almost 40 years of occupation of East Germany,” the deputy foreign minister said.
Furthermore, Melnyk supports President Zelenski’s initiative to celebrate Remembrance Day on 8 May, as he believes it is an opportunity to honour the Ukrainian contribution to the victory.
“Today’s initiative of our president – it seems to me that this is really the right step, because it was May 8 when the capitulation act was signed, so it is worth honouring the millions of Ukrainian victims of Nazism and celebrating the contribution of Ukrainians to the victory, which has always been belittled. And 9 May, Europe Day, is a day that looks to our future as a member of the EU or NATO,” he said.
The diplomat stressed that one of our state’s tasks is to “to obtain from Germany the recognition of Ukrainians as the nation that suffered the most from the Second World War”.