FEW MORE WORDS ABOUT THE NORMANDY FOUR AND MOSCOW LOBBY IN BERLIN
German side of the quadripartite group on resolving the conflict in the Donbass sees no point in expanding the "Normandy format," this was stated by Martin Schaefer, an official representative of the Foreign Ministry of Germany during the recent press conference on October 28.
To some extent in his comment Schaefer duplicated recent statements statements by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has been trying to justify the Minsk agreements by all means.
It is easy to understand German representatives' attempts to advocate the Normandy format. In this way Berlin and Paris are trying to retain a monopoly in the issue of Europe's reaction on Moscow intervention to Ukraine. Particularly objectionable to Berlin is the accelerating efforts on this matter by Central European countries, especially by Poland.
First criticism criticism from a side of Warsaw on Germany's soft position towards Russia was voiced in 2014. And such its position has become even tougher after Andrzej Duda was elected a president and new government had been formed by the Right and Justice party.
In a speech Duda made during the Economic Forum in Krynica in early September last year he had criticized the EU position on Russia's aggression against Ukraine. In his view, the EU pays due attention to this issue and marginalize it. The Polish president also expressed skepticism about further perspectives of the Minsk agreements and criticized the West's attempts to freeze the conflict in the Donbass: "The conflict in Ukraine should not be freezed but result in lasting of peace. And under the lasting peace we mean a return to the internationally recognized borders."
Andrzej Duda has repeatedly noted that Warsaw is willing to join the negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. According to the press secretary of the President of Poland Marek Magerovsky, involvement of Warsaw's diplomatic efforts would allow to make political pressure on the Kremlin more effective.
Worth note that currently official Berlin looks like the Kremlin's caring lawyer, especially against the background of nation-oriented anti-Moscow policy implemented by Poland. Therefore, it is clear that Berlin opposes the ideas of extension or transformation of the Normandy format.
But the main problem is that official Kyiv position is not much different from Berlin's one, since Petro Poroshenko himself stubbornly prefers to see no alternatives to the Normandy format.
First criticism criticism from a side of Warsaw on Germany's soft position towards Russia was voiced in 2014. And such its position has become even tougher after Andrzej Duda was elected a president and new government had been formed by the Right and Justice party.
In a speech Duda made during the Economic Forum in Krynica in early September last year he had criticized the EU position on Russia's aggression against Ukraine. In his view, the EU pays due attention to this issue and marginalize it. The Polish president also expressed skepticism about further perspectives of the Minsk agreements and criticized the West's attempts to freeze the conflict in the Donbass: "The conflict in Ukraine should not be freezed but result in lasting of peace. And under the lasting peace we mean a return to the internationally recognized borders."
Andrzej Duda has repeatedly noted that Warsaw is willing to join the negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict. According to the press secretary of the President of Poland Marek Magerovsky, involvement of Warsaw's diplomatic efforts would allow to make political pressure on the Kremlin more effective.
Worth note that currently official Berlin looks like the Kremlin's caring lawyer, especially against the background of nation-oriented anti-Moscow policy implemented by Poland. Therefore, it is clear that Berlin opposes the ideas of extension or transformation of the Normandy format.
But the main problem is that official Kyiv position is not much different from Berlin's one, since Petro Poroshenko himself stubbornly prefers to see no alternatives to the Normandy format.
by Dmytro SULIMA
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