Thread by @bctallis

#Germany’s Chancellor #Scholz seems to reject the #visaban - sticking to the same discredited reasoning that he outlined last week. This comes after #Czechia (which holds the #EU Presidency) supported of the measure proposed by #Finland & #Estonia

dw.com/en/germanys-sc…

So what will #Germany propose instead? How will it listen to the concerns of #NCEE countries including those whose views it has repeatedly trampled over in its dealings with #Russia.
Coming after the Kaliningrad fiasco #Scholz risks creating a real rift in the #EU.
#visaban

There are different views on the #visaban but rubbing nonsense excuses in the faces of partners who have repeatedly shown they have a *much* better grasp of the situation concerning #Ukraine & #Russia is not a good look. Nor is appearing to put 🇷🇺concerns ahead of 🇺🇦🇫🇮🇪🇪🇨🇿 …

And for #Germany of all countries to have its leaders claim that this is Putin’s war not #Russia’s war not only flies in the face of the evidence but is historically crass (to put it mildly). This doesn’t mean collective guilt for Russians but there is collective responsibility.

#Germany can of course choose its own way on this - but so far the reasons underpinning doing so are not at all convincing & it smacks of yet another sonderweg with regard to Russia. Others may well join it in opposing a #visaban of course but they too will have to account for

Why they are again tying Europeans hands behind our backs when backing 🇺🇦& combatting #Russia & it’s dictatorial regime. There are plenty of ways to ensure humanitarian passage & protection without tourist visas- as #Germany already does. But this seems to be about something else

#Scholz (& some others in & around Brussels) have seemed repeatedly annoyed that #NCEE have led the #EU response to #Russia’s brutal assault on #Ukraine - feeling left behind by some they see as ‘trouble causers’. Rather than responding to the pace set by #NCEE who are showing

What EU countries *CAN* do in opposition to #Russia & in support of #Ukraine, #Germany’s government (esp Kanzleramt) has too often seemed offended by this - and has not proposed anything that would provide similar leadership, all too often slipping back into

the bad old ways that got us here in the first place - driven (in some places) by an all too obvious desire to normalise relations with #Russia. This is unacceptable for #Ukraine & it should be unacceptable for all Europeans. We must get proactive in showing this is our fight too

The #visaban is a good idea in this regard & needn’t close humanitarian routes out of Russia. Instead of recognising this, #Scholz has again made clear the divide between those who look to & will shape the #EU’s future & those who are stuck in its inadequate past.

#Ukraine & #NCEE are showing many ways in which they are driving an agenda of #NeoIdealism that seeks to renew our democracies, freedoms & hopeful futures. #Germany and others need to catch up - or it will be to all our detriment. /END