Ambassador: Ukraine's accession to EU will have great benefits for both Berlin and Kyiv
Germany sincerely supports Ukraine's accession to the European Union and sees great chances for both sides in this membership.
This was stated by German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jaeger in an interview with Ukrinform.
"Germany sincerely supports Ukraine's accession to the EU. Ukraine is part of Europe, and its place is in the EU. We see great chances for both sides in this membership. In terms of economic cooperation, we believe that Ukraine's membership in the EU will have great benefits for both Germany and Ukraine," the diplomat said.
Commenting on the protests at the borders of workers from neighboring countries who see their Ukrainian colleagues as competitors, Jaeger noted that he sees no such obstacles on the part of Germany.
"During the first enlargement of the EU in 2004, there were great concerns in Germany about the freedom of movement of employees, and there were very heated and controversial discussions. Today we have no such debates at all," the ambassador assured.
He added that Germany sees Ukraine's future membership in the EU not only as a strategic necessity, but also as a great economic opportunity.
"I see German firms interested in investing here because they are investing in a future EU member state," said Jaeger.
He added that the overwhelming majority of German citizens are in favor of supporting Ukraine now and in the future.
"And there are people in Germany who are critical of the German government's support for Ukraine. If you want to rely on numbers, it is certainly not more than a fifth of the voters, but on the other hand, it means that 80% of voters in Germany support our cooperation with Ukraine. This is the balance of power that makes me confident that Germany will be on Ukraine's side for a long time," the diplomat said.
He noted that Russia is trying to massively influence public opinion, but Germany consistently counteracts these attempts by presenting facts to people and always telling the truth.
"I can only state that after more than 600 days of war, there is an overwhelming majority in Germany that is in favor of the present and future support of Ukraine. Ukraine can rely on Germany," assured Jaeger.
As reported, Russia has been spreading a narrative to sow panic among Ukrainians that the West is getting tired of Ukraine, its support is weakening, and that it wants Ukraine to make concessions to Russia.