Myths busted

For me personally, it was the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity of 2013-2014 that was a turning point. I watched with fascination from Germany as people, often younger than me, fought for what was important to me, a German, is obvious, unconditional and accessible from birth. It was from that time onwards that I started travelling regularly to Ukraine and learning Ukrainian. In Lviv, I practiced my language skills and watched people transition to Russian when they saw that I spoke it better. So it was the same hyper-nationalistic Western Ukraine that fanatically rejected everything Russian? When I travelled to Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv, I was fascinated by the diversity of these cities and impressed by the strength of Ukrainian civil society. In the cities of Uman and Vinnytsia, which had a strong Jewish influence before the Second World War, I discovered the Jewish heritage in Ukraine.

This is how my own research into Ukraine began. During the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, I realised for the first time how much German society is imbued with colonial thinking and how many interesting things await us in Ukraine. The history of German-Russian colonialism at the expense of East-Central Europe needs to be fully understood and ended. Neglecting the prospects of East-Central Europe is one of the reasons for Germany's failures in relations with Russia in recent decades. Germany must radically rethink its relations with Russia and should not return to old dreams of «rapprochement» and «reconciliation». Today, the most important thing is to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia - militarily, politically and economically. Ukraine is defending the European security order, which protects us all. The whole of Europe stands with Ukraine.