German lawmakers speak out against Pope's call for "white flag"

Two MPs from Germany’s ruling coalition, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of the Free Democrats and Katrin Göring-Eckardt of the Greens, have spoken out against Pope Francis’s statement that Ukraine should have the "courage of the white flag" and negotiate with Russia to end the war.

Source: German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA); European Pravda

Details: "Before the Ukrainian victims raise the white flag, the Pope should make loud and clear calls for the brutal Russian criminals to take down their pirate flag, the symbol of death and Satan," Strack-Zimmermann said in an interview with Funke Mediengruppe.

Strack-Zimmermann, who chairs the Bundestag defence committee, also noted that the Pope has failed to criticise Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

"And why in the name of God does he not condemn the verbal incitements to kill Ukrainian people made by Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church and a former KGB agent?" Strack-Zimmermann asked.

She added that as a Catholic, she was embarrassed that the Pope had refrained from condemning Kirill.

Meanwhile, Göring-Eckardt said in an interview with RND that no one wants peace more than Ukraine does, adding that it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who can help achieve that.

"Putin is the one who could immediately stop this war and suffering, not Ukraine. Those demanding that Ukraine should just surrender are giving the aggressor what he took illegally and thus agreeing to the destruction of Ukraine," she said.

Background:

• Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded to Pope Francis’s suggestion by saying that Ukraine’s flag is yellow and blue, not white.
• Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said in response to Pope Francis’s statement that the Pope should ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his occupation forces from Ukraine.
• On 9 March, Reuters reported that Pope Francis said in an interview this February that Ukraine should have what he called "the courage of the white flag" and negotiate an end to the war with Russia.
• The Vatican later clarified the Pope’s remarks, stressing that he was calling for a ceasefire and the resumption of negotiations, not for Ukraine to surrender, and emphasising the Pope’s words that "Negotiation is never a surrender."
• Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs said in response to the Pope’s comment that "one cannot surrender to evil".

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