Development Minister Schulze traveled to Ukraine. On site, she makes commitments for the reconstruction – and promises a long-term partnership.
Development Minister Svenja Schulze is the second member of the federal government to travel to Ukraine since the start of the Russian war of aggression.
During a visit to the heavily damaged Kiev suburb of Borodjanka on Friday, she assured the people of civil aid from Germany. 185 million euros for emergency measures have already been approved, Schulze told journalists in Borodjanka on Friday. Specifically, apartments and power lines are to be built. “Ukrainians simply need water and electricity. Those who have fled within Ukraine need a roof over their heads, the children need to be able to go back to school and support is needed for all of this.”
Schulze: We have to start helping and building now
Germany will remain a partner for the next few years, she said in front of houses destroyed by Russian air strikes. “But we mustn’t wait until the war is over, we have to start helping and building up again now.” The emergency aid funds are to go, among other things, to the reconstruction of the destroyed houses. But people also need garbage collection and waste management. The development ministry will continue to cooperate closely with the affected communities in the future, she said in an interview with Borodjanka’s mayor Georgi Jerko.
Asked about the visit from Chancellor Olaf Scholz expected by Kyiv, Schulze only said that he was in constant contact with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj. Unlike several other Western heads of state and government, Scholz has so far refrained from visiting Ukraine. Two and a half weeks ago, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) was the first member of the government to travel to Kyiv since the beginning of the war. At the beginning of May, opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) visited Kyiv as high-ranking German politicians.
During her visit on Friday, Schulze wanted to meet Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal and his deputy Iryna Wereschtschuk.
