The Ukrainian ambassador accuses the “Berliner Zeitung” of being close to Russia, which sees press freedom threatened. A strange little war.
Oleksii Makeiev, Ukrainian ambassador to Germany Photo: Christoph Schmidt/dpa
He Berlin newspaper (BLZ) he feels attacked. The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin accused the newspaper of not always being totally critical of Russia when it comes to the war in Ukraine. Which he is absolutely right about. By the way, it is not prohibited either. He Berlin newspaper can write like this. And Oleksii Makeiev can point it out and get angry about it.
Makeiev asked in X if the newspaper was the “new Radio Moscow,” that is, a Kremlin propaganda station. He cited some examples and noted that the Russian ambassador Bank code– Feel free to forward articles. There was also a logo he made himself for the “Berliner Volks Republik Zeitung” and the note that there were “better and free media in Berlin.”
That now the people, no, they Bank code He protested against the “attempted intimidation” and the alleged “usurpation of press freedom.”
I don't know if anyone on Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse is afraid of not being invited to the ambassador's aperitifs or other receptions. But an attack on press freedom has a different aspect. Makeiev deserved to be expelled for violating diplomatic customs. Because he is actually expressed with exquisite courtesy. Which is often meant to be even more unpleasant.
Melnyk as key witness
Makeiev's predecessor, Andrij Melnyk, leaned more toward direct diplomacy. That he Bank code Bringing him out as a key witness against his own successor makes everything a little more absurd. “Those who elevated pro-Putin lackeys like Manuela Schwesig or Michael Kretschmer and made them socially acceptable have no moral right to attack the free German media because of their critical reporting,” says Melnyk. AND Bank code-Editor Michael Maier writes it with enthusiasm.
The elephant in the room is, of course, Holger Friedrich. He has been the owner, editor and lord of since 2019. Bank code. And, like his wife Silke, he is considered close to Russia. Friedrich now feels different too daily mirror tracked. Because he has long accused his newspaper of “acting like a Russian submarine,” as Friedrich's Adlatus Maier wrote in an insulting manner on Tuesday. What's going to happen now? Big global political debate or exchange of journalistic trivia in the media?
Last year, on the day of Hitler's victory over fascism, which Putin would like to attribute to Ukraine, several staunch pro-Putin lackeys were at the Russian embassy in Berlin for refreshments. Among them a certain Gerhard Schröder – Oops! – Holger Friedrich and Michael Maier. “I would like to suggest the following,” says the roommate. “For every pro-Russian line, all the newspaper employees have to drink Ukrainian vodka and vice versa.” Good, sdorovje!