What Scholz did will go down in history —Kuleba thanks German Chancellor for asking Orban leave EU summit hall

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's action of removing Hungarian leader Viktor Orban from the hall at the EU summit as one that "will go down in history as an act of German leadership in the interests of Europe."

Kuleba said this in a comment to the German edition of Bild.

"What German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did at the summit to remove the threat of a Hungarian veto will go down in history as an act of German leadership in the interests of Europe. This week, the German Chancellor has won a lot of sincere and well-deserved admiration in the hearts of Ukrainians," Kuleba emphasized.

The minister noted that last year, calls for Berlin to take the initiative on Ukraine's EU membership were not heard. Experts and politicians in Germany said that their country did not want to be a leader.

Kuleba added that he was glad to see changes in Germany's position on Ukraine.

"When I was campaigning in Berlin last May for Ukraine's EU candidate status, my calls for Germany to take the lead in this process were largely unheard. I am glad that German political decisions have changed since then," Kuleba said.

He added that Ukrainians have many reasons to be grateful to Germany: from military assistance to financial support.

"But political clarity on Ukraine's membership in the EU is probably the best Christmas gift from Berlin. Gray areas in Europe are no longer possible," the Ukrainian Foreign Minister said.