The Ukrainian Ambassador Makeiev visited Schwerin on Monday and met Manuela Schwesig. Not everyone likes that.
Ukrainian Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev met Manuela Schwesig, Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in Schwerin on Monday. At the same time, Schwesig assured him of the help of her state in a “hopefully soon” reconstruction of the Ukraine. Makeiev’s predecessor Andrei Melnyk sharply criticized the meeting.
The former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany wrote on Twitter that Schwesig had “fought like a lioness” for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline and ultimately “played down Moscow’s imperial policies.” Referring to Makeiev and his visit, he remarked: “I would never give this lady my hand. Never”.
Schwesig, on the other hand, emphasized at the meeting that her state is on the side of Ukraine. “We continue to provide support where we can, for example by taking in people seeking protection or organizing aid transports.” The most important thing remains that Putin ends his war of aggression.
Schwesig criticized for supporting Nord Stream 2
Before the Ukraine war, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania had maintained close ties with Russia, especially with the Leningrad region around St. Petersburg. Relations ended after the start of the war. Schwesig has been criticized for her long support of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for Russian gas despite Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014. She now describes it as a mistake.
At the instigation of the state government and state parliament, a foundation was set up in early 2021 to complete the pipeline under the US threat of sanctions against the companies involved. The line was completed, but did not go into operation because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
