“How far can an ambassador go, and what can a chancellor tolerate?” The whole of Germany is currently asking itself the question, according to the German wave. Tuesday, May 3, Andrij Melnyk, the virulent ambassador of Ukraine to Berlin, accused Olaf Scholz of “to make blood sausage”, after he refused to go to kyiv. Since then, the press across the Rhine has been wondering about the provocations of the diplomat, known for his sharp criticism of the German government.
“In German, the expression ‘insulted liverwurst’ [que l’on peut traduire littéralement par ‘boudin susceptible’] usually refers to someone who gets upset for no reason, at least on the surface”, explains the chain. However, since the refusal of the Ukrainian authorities to welcome the President of the Republic Frank-Walter Steinmeier in kyiv (they subsequently mentioned a misunderstanding), Olaf Scholz has ruled out meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in the capital of his country. A decision strongly criticized by Mr. Melnyk, who also said:
“This is the most savage war of annihilation since the Nazi invasion of Ukraine, we are not in kindergarten.”
“My Chancellor doesn’t make pudding! ”
According to German wave, “mTuesday evening, Olaf Scholz did not let his feelings show after the ambassador’s remarks”. But the Ukrainian diplomat’s remarks were strongly criticized by German figures from all political stripes and in the country’s newspapers.
“My chancellor does not ‘of black pudding’ ! He is not sulking, he is not a child”protested a journalist from the right-wing tabloid Bild, while the centrist weekly Focus qualifier Andrij Melnyk de “Rambo” pushing Germany to become more involved in the war. “Those gentlemen [Scholz et Melnyk] have they nothing better to do?” asks the curator Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
For the German wave, the answer is clear: there are more urgent matters. A two-day meeting in the presence of the Swedish and Finnish heads of government is being organized this week by Germany, at Meseberg Castle – the equivalent of Fort Brégançon. On the program: the war in Ukraine, its geopolitical and economic consequences, and the possible membership of the two Scandinavian countries in NATO.