Ambassador of Ukraine: Scholz showed skill with Orbán, his government is in decent shape

Kyiv's ambassador to Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, told local radio rbb24 Inforio, as quoted by Deutsche Welle, that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz showed "diplomatic skill" when he secured the decision to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union despite Hungary's intention to veto it. 

According to him, Scholz's "diplomatic skill" in convincing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán not to participate in the vote launched negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

"This government is in the right head. The Germans should realize that it is in their interest to help Ukraine, as Russia is a threat to peace in the whole of Europe. Assistance to Ukraine is important both for protection against the Russian aggressive war and for restoring the post-war devastation," Makeiev said.

He noted that Ukraine needs more weapons to turn the tide in the war.

"It is important to think about reconstruction now. We cannot wait until the end of the war. We need to restore everything today. And here Germany's leadership role is very important," the diplomat summarized.

On December 14, Ukraine received the long-awaited opening of membership negotiations at the EU summit, which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatened to block. Even on the day of the summit, Orbán did not agree to give the green light to negotiations, and everything was decided at the last moment. According to Politico, Scholz suggested that Orbán leave the hall during the vote.

The Prime Minister of Hungary left, abstained from voting – and the opening of negotiations was approved without him.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said that Scholz's actions at the EU summit in Brussels will go down in history.