The reconstruction of Ukraine is "the mission of a generation, which must begin now," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday at the opening of the so-called International Conference of Experts on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Modernization of Ukraine, which is being held In Berlin.
"This conference is about creating a Marshall plan for the 21st century," Scholz said. The commitment to Ukraine as a member of the EU is one of the most important geopolitical decisions of our time”. The expression Marshall plan referring to Ukraine - alluding to the European reconstruction plan launched by the United States after World War II - has been heard for months by European leaders and also in the United States.
This Berlin event is a conference of experts (not donors) promoted by the German presidency of the G-7, the club of the seven most industrialized democracies, and by the European Commission, in close coordination with the Ukrainian authorities. "We need to firmly integrate Ukraine's reconstruction efforts on its way to the EU," said the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who also delivered an opening speech on the spot, thus reaffirming the will pointed out by Scholz.
“We have no time to lose, the magnitude of the destruction is staggering; the World Bank puts the cost of the damage at 350 billion euros ($345 billion)," said von der Leyen, adding that the EU is willing to host a secretariat to coordinate reconstruction measures.
By video conference from Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian rockets and Iranian-made drones have destroyed more than a third of his country's energy sector. "Russia is destroying everything to make it harder for us to get through the winter," Zelensky said.
Ukraine's president has asked for support to cover the budget deficit of 38,000 million dollars projected for next year due to the Russian invasion. “For Ukraine, this is a considerable sum of money,” said Zelensky, who assured that Kyiv has not yet received “a single penny” from Ukraine of a rapid recovery plan worth a total of 17,000 million dollars. The Ukrainian leader urged coordination in the international financial effort for the reconstruction of his country both during the war and after the conflict, and demanded that frozen Russian assets also be used for this purpose.
Scholz assured that democratic countries "will continue to support Ukraine as long as it takes and as long as it takes." And Von der Leyen affirmed that “Ukrainians are showing us that they have hope and confidence in the future and that they will continue to fight for it”, and promised lasting support.
Scholz assured that democratic countries "will continue to support Ukraine as long as it takes and as long as it takes." And Von der Leyen affirmed that "Ukrainians are showing us that they have hope and confidence in the future and that they will continue to fight for it", and promised lasting support.
This meeting in Berlin is not a donor conference like the one held last May in Warsaw, nor is it directly related to the conference held in Lugano (Switzerland) last July. Lugano was an appointment planned since before the war to channel reforms in Ukraine and, in view of the situation, redirected its objective, without abandoning the goal of reforming the country and ending corruption, a subject in which Ukraine has already taken positive steps.
At the Lugano conference, the Government of Ukraine already indicated that, according to its estimates, the cost of reconstruction will amount to 750,000 million dollars (almost 720,000 million euros). This figure was reiterated in Berlin yesterday by the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Denis Chmihal, during the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum that preceded the conference on Tuesday, in which Chmihal also participates in person.
On Monday at the German-Ukrainian Economic Forum, Chancellor Scholz called on entrepreneurs to invest in Ukraine, a country destined to become a "full member of the European Union." Scholz recalled that last June Brussels declared Ukraine a candidate country for EU membership. "Whoever supports Ukraine now supports a future EU member," Scholz said Monday. Zelensky in his speech on Tuesday alluded to this statement by Scholz about Ukraine's prospects of joining the EU.
Renowned experts, international organizations, think tanks, scientists and representatives of civil society participate in the Berlin conference, which declares that it will work hand in hand with the Lugano initiative - which will continue with another conference in London next year. and from the private sector participate in the conference, which is not, therefore, a political conference.
A virtual speech by the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the G-20, the group of industrial powers and emerging countries, of which Russia is a part, is scheduled for the day. Participating in person, among others: the Director General of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva; the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki; and the president of Switzerland, Ignazio Cassis.
