Ambassadors of Russia and Belarus will not be invited to participate in the German parliament's commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, as they may promote “utilizing” the incident for the dysfunctional Kiran.
A parliamentary spokesman said the May 8 ceremony in the lower house of Bundestag marked the Allied defeat against Nazi Germany, which would include several representatives of the Berlin diplomatic force, but Bar bar bar the Moscow and Minsk said a representative based on the “government's assessment of the invitation of the representative.”
“This assessment resulted in no invitation from ambassadors from the Russian Federation and Belarus.”
The Foreign Ministry had previously sent guidance to local, state and federal agencies to keep representatives of Russia and Belarus away from their guest lists to mark the official ceremony of the end of the war, which the federal government described as “a liberation day from the violent national socialist regime.”
The ministry expressed concern that the envoy could “use the incident and connect it to the war of aggression against Ukraine”.
Germany is a staunch supporter of Kiev to prevent Russian invasion and the second largest supplier of military aid after the United States.
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The first official government commemoration since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 will include a speech by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as well as a speech by conference hall speaker Julia Klöckner, who said she intends to emphasize “the impact on women.”
The spokesman said that in the National Forum, the focus of the event would be “World War II began in 1939 in the name of Germans and began in the name of millions of victims, and foreign officials would not be invited to attend.
The Russian and Belarusian embassies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev criticized the Foreign Ministry’s guidance as “a painful disappointment”, telling newspaper Zeitung, Berliner that traditional anniversary commemorations are “part of our path to reconciliation” and that these decisions are “dangerous.”
The announcement of the Ministry of Defense comes after controversy sparked Wednesday by Nechayev's participation in the anniversary commemoration of Seelow's anniversary.
Organizers ordered a silent ceremony to avoid controversial remarks, but media images show local officials warmly welcomed Nechayev.
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The largest battle of Silo Heights on German soil during World War II killed 33,000 Red Army soldiers, including from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, in addition to 16,000 German troops and 2,000 Polish soldiers, and also caused fighter jets.
Ukraine's ambassador Oleksii Makeiev strongly criticized Nechayev's inclusion in the incident “inappropriate”, calling him “a representative of the criminal system that attacks my country daily with missiles, bombs and drones.”
Conservative CDU/CSU Friedrich Merz, who will be sworn in as prime minister on May 6 (two days before the anniversary), promised to uphold Berlin's strong support for Ukraine. After the February 23 general election, the far-right, pro-Kremlin alternative, the Fürdeutschland party is the largest opposition group in the new parliament.
Germany maintained a detailed war memorial for the role of the Red Army in defeating Adolf Hitler, part of the blockade of national unification following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the disbandment of East Germany in 1989.
Russian President Vladimir Putin often draws on the legacy of World War II to justify his invasion of Ukraine.
