Without Russia, German right-wingers: 150 politicians to attend MSC

That’s according to Christoph Heusgen, MSC Chairman, who spoke at a briefing in Berlin on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Heusgen, almost 150 high-ranking officials are expected to arrive in Munich late this week, including over 45 heads of state and government, 83 ministers of foreign affairs and defense, etc.

Among the guests are German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France and Andrzej Duda of Poland, leaders of Scandinavian nations, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the largest delegation of American lawmakers in the history of the conference (according to Heusgen, this will be a third of the Senate), heads of international organizations, including NATO, EU, and UN.

From what is known at the moment, Ukraine will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, as well as over 20 lawmakers.

As for Russia, Christoph Heusgen repeated what he said in an interview with Ukrinform: it was decided not to invite Russian officials.

"We have been watching intensively in recent months and weeks what’s happening. In his statements, Putin did not shift from his line one iota. He denies the right to the existence of an independent Ukraine... there are signs that the traces of the MH 17 accident lead to the Kremlin... Therefore, we should not expect the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lavrov, who is the ‘mouthpiece for Putin and the Kremlin,’ so that he does not use the forum for propaganda," said the German diplomat.

Members of the German Bundestag with the Alternative for Germany party were not invited to the conference either.

The Munich Security Conference will be held on February 17-19. More than 1,000 journalists will be covering the event.