SHARE
COPY LINK

UKRAINE

Austrian chancellor leaves to visit Ukraine

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer on Friday left to travel to Kyiv, according to his office, one of the first EU leaders to visit Ukraine after images of corpses in the town of Bucha came to light.

Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer walks past an Austrian flag wearing a mask. Photo: JOE KLAMAR / AFP
Austrian chancellor Karl Nehammer walks past an Austrian flag wearing a mask. Photo: JOE KLAMAR / AFP

“Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer left this evening for his visit to Ukraine,” the chancellory said in a statement.

Nehammer indicated earlier in the week he would visit Ukraine.

READ MORE: Austria’s Nehammer to visit Zelensky in Ukraine

Nehammer’s visit comes as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Bucha on Friday on a trip to Ukraine along with the bloc’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell.

Nehammer is expected to travel to Bucha, near Kyiv, on Saturday, according to a statement from his office.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian troops of being behind the killings in the town, but the Kremlin has denied any responsibility and suggested images of corpses were “fakes”.

“Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer left this evening for his visit to Ukraine with a delegation and media representatives,” the chancellory said.

Besides visiting Bucha, Nehammer is planning to meet Zelensky followed by a press conference and a meeting with Prime Minister Denys Shmygal on Saturday.

He is also planning to meet Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko before returning later Saturday.

“It is important that, within the framework of our neutrality, we support Ukraine on both a humanitarian and a political level,” Nehammer said in a statement.

“What is happening in Ukraine, and in particular in many cities of Ukraine, is a terrible war of aggression against the civilian population,” he said.

He said that independent and international experts should get to the bottom of “the war crimes that have come to light”.

“Those responsible for these crimes must and will be held accountable,” he said. Violence in the town of Bucha, where authorities say hundreds were killed — including some found with their hands bound — has become a byword for allegations of brutality inflicted under Russian occupation.

The Czech, Polish and Slovenian prime ministers visited Kyiv on March 15, before Russian troops withdrew from around the capital, in the first trip by European Union leaders since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Austrian far-right radical Sellner wins German ban battle

Radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner on Friday won a legal battle against an entry ban imposed by Germany following his meeting with the far-right AfD that sparked an uproar in the country.

Austrian far-right radical Sellner wins German ban battle

Sellner had triggered outrage in Germany after allegedly discussing the Identitarian concept of “remigration” with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a meeting in Potsdam in November.

The city of Potsdam subsequently imposed a ban on Sellner entering Germany.

But the administrative court in Brandenburg state on Friday found in favour of Sellner’s appeal against the prohibition.

READ ALSO: Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

“A real and sufficiently serious threat to public order and public security… was not demonstrated” by the authorities which had initiated the ban, said the court in a statement.

Welcoming the ruling, Sellner wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he “will return to Germany soon and will push more and louder than ever on remigration and deislamisation”.

Sellner’s Identitarian Movement espouses the far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Who is Austria’s far right figure head banned across Europe?

SHOW COMMENTS