Zelensky Called On Germany To Tear Down The Wall Separating Free And Unfree Europe

Calls on Germany to tear down the wall separating free and unfree Europe
Says German ties to Russia helped build wall
Causes the Berlin Airlift, the fall of the Berlin Wall in justification

BERLIN, March 17 – Citing the fall of the Berlin Wall, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to tear down what he called the wall between “free and not free” Europe and stop the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to the Bundestag via video link, Zelenskiy urged Scholz to restore freedom to Ukraine, appealing to Germany’s collective memory with reference to the historic Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Zelenskiy described a new wall “in the middle of Europe between freedom and non-freedom,” which he said Germany helped build, isolating Ukraine through its business ties with Russia and its previous support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

“And this wall gets bigger with every bomb that falls on Ukraine, with every decision not made,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the lower house of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, via video link following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Berlin, Germany, March 17, 2022. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner.

Last month, Germany suspended construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline across the Baltic Sea, designed to double the flow of Russian gas directly to Germany. More

Recalling former US President Ronald Reagan’s call to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, to tear down the Berlin Wall, Zelenskiy told German lawmakers: “I’m telling you, dear Chancellor Scholz: tear down this wall.”

“Give Germany the leadership role it deserves so that your descendants will be proud of you. Support freedom, support Ukraine, stop this war, help us stop this war,” he added.

Deputies in the Bundestag greeted Zelensky with applause, and House Vice President Katrin Goering-Eckardt told him: “Your country has chosen democracy, and this is what (Russian President) Vladimir Putin fears.”

She said that Putin was trying to deprive Ukraine of the right to exist, adding: “But he has already failed with that.”

Additional report by Andreas Rinke. Writing by Paul Carrel. Editing by Miranda Murray.

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