I lack a clear position of our Western partners on Ukraine — Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze

The Chair of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration into the EU took part in the discussion “The End of the Merkel Age”, organized by the NGO “Euro-Atlantic Course”. On the eve of the Ukraine-EU summit, the participants discussed the potential impact of the German leadership change on European policy, Ukrainian-German relations, Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations, as well as German policy towards Russia, in particular to the “Nord Stream-2”, Germany's leadership in a united Europe and its role on the world stage.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze stated that Ukraine desperately needed an honest and open dialogue with European partners: “If we have stated in our slogans and strategic documents that we want to be part of the West, we need to have a sincere dialogue with our partners, and not some veiled things. Honesty is important to us, to our success. At the moment, I lack a clear position of our Western partners on what is happening in Ukraine”.

The Chair of the Committee is convinced that the future of Ukraine's relations with the European Union will determine how a united Europe will react to Russia's latest gas attack on Europe: “It is not only about the response to Nord Stream-2, but also about the response to Budapest's contract with Gazprom, to all the bypasses around Ukraine - how a united Europe with a key role for Germany will respond to this. How developments around gas will determine whether Europe's political weakness persists or whether Europe continues to build its capacity. Much will depend on the willingness to take responsibility, to defend the values and things on which Europe was built”.

Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze is convinced that between 2014 and 2019, Ukraine had a certain moral advantage in negotiations with Western allies. Today, this advantage is blurred: “It seems to me that we have now blurred this moral advantage within Ukraine. This happened because we have stumbled with reforms, because Ukraine say one thing - do another, because we do not always understand how hard we stand for our country and the values that were important to us as for society during the Revolution of Dignity. And this weakens our voice and our ability, if not to impose our agenda, then at least to seek a common interest with the countries of the European Union”.

As for the consequences of Angela Merkel's resignation from the position of German Chancellor for Ukraine, the Chair of the Committee believes that there will be no radical changes in Germany's relations with Ukraine or the EU's relations with Ukraine. “There will be no serious change, there will be no additional incentive for Ukraine to transform. Unfortunately, Ukraine will fall from the priorities of German foreign policy. It is unlikely that the new Chancellor will want to claim leadership in the Normandy format. Germany will look at Ukraine through the prism of its relations with Russia,” Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze said. She also added that much in this process will depend on Kyiv. “Berlin has a lot of challenges, and Kyiv is definitely not at the top of the agenda there today. It depends on us whether we will be able to put ourselves at the highest level of interests of Berlin and, accordingly, of the European Union,” the Committee Chair summed up.