At its session on Thursday, the Berlin House of Representatives wants to deal again with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the consequences for the state of Berlin. Berlin’s tasks in caring for and accommodating war refugees will be the only topic of Parliament’s current hour. All six factions have agreed on this, which then each have the right to speak.
However, the prelude will be denied by a speaker who is not even a member of the House of Representatives: Andriy Melnyk, Ambassador of Ukraine, who is constantly present on German television talk shows these days. The 46-year-old has made a name for himself above all as a harsh critic of German foreign policy, who vehemently demands, among other things, that Germany deliver arms to Ukraine and that NATO set up a no-fly zone. The representative of the Ukrainian government in Germany showed little sympathy for the indication that this would lead to a direct confrontation between the largest nuclear powers in the world and that this would move to the brink of nuclear war. Saying no to such a no-fly zone would only delay the war, said Melnyk. And directly to his interlocutor: “Whether you want it or not, this war could be heading towards Germany. Preventive diplomacy has failed.”
The invitation to appear in front of the House of Representatives came from Parliament President Dennis Buchner, who had received the Ukrainian ambassador in his office on March 1 for what is officially called a “polite visit”. On this occasion, a performance by Melnyk was addressed for the first time.
An ambassador has never spoken in front of the House of Representatives
Melnyk’s speech on Thursday is historical. It is unusual for ambassadors to address state parliaments; no ambassador has ever addressed the House of Representatives in reunified Berlin.
The German Bundestag is the natural field of activity for ambassadors. Andrij Melnyk was last a guest on February 27 at the government statement by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Bundestag. In his speech, Scholz spoke of a “turning point” in European history and thus justified, among other things, German arms deliveries to the war-torn Ukraine. Melnyk, who was sitting in the visitors’ gallery in the Reichstag building, received standing applause from the House of Representatives and a firm hug from former Federal President Joachim Gauck, who was sitting next to him.
Against this background, Melnyk’s speech to the Berlin House of Representatives can be expected with some excitement.