Ambassador Bolewski Discusses Germany’s Role in Ukraine on BBC

AGS Professor Ambassador Wilfried Bolewski was interviewed on BBC Radio 5‘s Up All Night show on May 14th, where he discussed this week’s visit by German Foreign Minister Steinmeier to Kiev in order to assist in mediating the ongoing Ukrainian crisis. As a former German Ambassador and the former Chief of Protocol under Angela Merkel and Gerhard Schröder, Ambassador Bolewski provided his insights into Germany’s increased role as a «middle man» between the opposing sides in Ukraine.

Ambassador Bolewski lauded the current plans for an IMF aid package to prop up the country’s vulnerable economy, praising the international community for efficiently organizing more than US$17 billion in funding and their «bottom-up, participatory approach» to solving the crisis. The loans would notably allow Ukraine to pay the more than US$3.5 billion it owes to state-owned Russian gas company Gazprom, suggesting all nations stand to benefit from the agreement, including Russia.

He also warned that the upcoming elections in Ukraine, currently set for May 25, may not settle the deep-seated issues that the region faces. «The presidential elections could have a more and rather disruptive, opposing, antagonistic, divisive impact on an already destabilized, dysfunctional society,» Ambassador Bolewski cautioned. He called for nations to work together to address the grievances of all groups within the country, and to create «positive inducements, incentives and communication platforms» to foster dialogue between the central government and separatist groups.

According to Ambassador Bolewski, the implementation of the current aid package should be prioritized, which would «create a commonality of interests, a future-orientation for nation-building, which would include the civil society: a real vision for practical problem solving and tangible performance results.»