Karl-Georg Wellmann

Karl-Georg Wellmann – Member of the German Parliament and member of the Committee of Foreign Affairs, as well as keynote speaker of CDU/CSU on Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, Vice-Chairman of the NGO “German-Ukrainian Forum”. Since 2014 he has been Chairman of the German-Ukrainian Parliamentary Group, member of the German-Russian and German-Belarusian parliamentary groups. He is a full member of the OSCE and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

We need to find what unites us – our common interests. There are Ukraine’s interests, on the one hand, and those of Russia and Western countries – on the other. Of course, the main condition must be territorial integrity. The support of separatists has to be stopped, the border has to be secured.
… We need to find a solution between Ukraine and Russia on the question of Crimea. I think it is always better and wiser to cooperate and create prosperity of the country and the people, because shooting each other – this is the most stupid thing you can do.
There are projects that really require such trilateral cooperation. For example, the federal state of Saxony recently reported that they already have their own aviation industry. “Antonov” is built together with Russia and Ukraine, and the Germans would be willing to participate in the modernization of those aircraft models, and Germany could contribute its know-how in this process.
We must begin a process of national reconciliation. Maybe all those forces who want to live together and work in Ukraine can unite in some way – all those forces that have selected the European way of development of the country. Not just organizing a Night of the Long Knives, when, let’s say, we put in jail and isolate all those who are against us. I think all of these issues have been discussed for decades in Ukraine. You just need to give a chance to speak even to those who adhered to some other points of view, and go on this journey together.