Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected Pope Francis’ statement about raising the “white flag” in the Ukraine war. “As you can imagine, the Chancellor does not agree with the Pope on this issue,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Monday in Berlin. “It is true that Ukraine is defending itself against an aggressor.” They also receive a lot of international support in order to be able to defend themselves against the war of aggression that violates international law.
Hebestreit also pointed out that a Vatican spokesman’s assessment of the Pope’s statements had been taken into account. Spokesman Matteo Bruni had contradicted reports that the Pope had called on Ukraine to surrender in an interview on Swiss television.
Criticism of the Ukraine negotiations at the top of the Union
There is also clear criticism of the Pope’s appeal at the top of the Union. “Hoisting white flags has solved nothing in Ukraine, quite the opposite,” said Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) on Monday when he arrived at a joint meeting of the CDU and CSU presidiums to approve the Union’s European election program in Berlin. As a devout Catholic, he finds it difficult “to understand what the Pope said. It doesn’t correspond to my opinion. I have a completely different view of things,” he added.
Rhein added, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin: “Because it must be clear to all of us that a Putin victory in Ukraine will have a terrible impact on Europe’s freedom. Nothing will be better if Putin wins there, everything will be worse.” CDU treasurer Julia Klöckner said that as a Catholic she was “more than irritated by this call to raise the white flag.” If you demand that someone who is being attacked surrender, “then that is a request to Mr. Putin to just carry on with the blessing of the church.”
The Pope had sparked massive opposition with a misleading appeal for peace negotiations in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In an interview on Swiss television, the 87-year-old also used the phrase “white flag” – a sign of surrender in times of war.
The Berlin CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt said about the Pope’s statements that he had “difficulty understanding this reference. It does not correspond to my idea of supporting Ukraine’s right to self-defense.” He added: “That’s why we should perhaps reclassify this statement.” The head of the CSU parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, Klaus Holetschek, said: “I think it was well-intentioned, but it was received wrongly and is certainly not the solution to this conflict.”
The chairman of the EPP group in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber (CSU), spoke of an important signal if the Pope called for peace. “However, everyone who speaks out must make it clear that the aggression comes from Russia, that Russia started this war unprovoked. And that’s why the main message must be: Moscow end this war, Putin end this war.”
