While it is not surprising that, as Europe’s largest economy, Germany is pushing to lead the reconstruction of Ukraine, Kyiv will not want Berlin to take charge of such an event, Polish political scientist Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski has claimed.
Speaking to the wpolityce.pl news portal, Żurawski vel Grajewski said that Germany is keen to move on from the bad impression it made in the early days of the Russian invasion. However, despite German economic advantages, it is the U.S., U.K., and Poland who have been Ukraine’s biggest allies and will, as a result, want to be actively involved in the reconstruction efforts.
The former Polish foreign ministry adviser also claims that Germany is keen to have a stake in the process to keep the weakening of Russia to a minimum, but this will not impress Kyiv, he warned.
Ukraine feels more of a debt of gratitude to Washington, London, and Warsaw than to Berlin. Still, Żurawski vel Grajewski believes the Ukrainians will want German financial involvement.
Another interesting consideration is the liquidation of Russian assets. It is difficult to assess the size of the Russian assets that can be seized. Here, the U.K. may be an important player since many of the assets are on its territory. The expert believes that Russia will not agree to reparations, but the pressure for frozen Russian assets to be used for this will be immense.
Żurawski vel Grajewski agreed with the Polish government’s ambition to be a leader in the reconstruction process and is convinced that geographical, logistical, and military considerations all point in Poland’s direction. So will internal political considerations in Ukraine, where those most involved with the war will be the leaders of the Ukraine of tomorrow rather than the oligarchs of yesterday.
That will be in Poland’s favor because of the way Poland has actively helped militarily and with its humanitarian response to Ukrainian refugees.
According to the expert despite German economic advantages, Poland holds the trump card in terms of geopolitics, culture, language, and mentality.
