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Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told Euractiv on Thursday (February 15) that his successor Zelensky’s decision to prevent him from attending the Munich Security Conference (MSC) was “an affront to democracy”.
Poroshenko, currently chairman of Ukraine’s European Solidarity Party, which has 27 members in the 450-seat parliament, was preparing to attend the high-profile meeting at the invitation of party chairman Christoph Heusgen.
The 60th three-day summit, considered Europe’s most important forum on defense and security affairs, will open on Friday (February 16).
Ukrainian media quoted Poroshenko, who served as president from 2014 to 2019, as saying that Ukrainian Parliament Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk banned him from traveling abroad on direct instructions from Zelensky.
He said he was in danger of being assassinated in Munich and that German security services were unable to prevent the attack, according to an official letter from military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov to Stefanchuk.
In written comments to Euractiv, Poroshenko denounced this as an attack on democracy.
“Hindering our activities, including parliamentary diplomacy and challenging Ukraine’s multi-party democracy, is an affront to democracy, European values and Ukraine’s commitment to the EU and NATO.”
Poroshenko did not mention Zelensky’s name, but further said: “People think that he can irresponsibly make such a decision with impunity. I can answer: it will not fly like this. In any case, we will continue to protect our democracy and Ukraine’s international image.”
‘Dangerous trend’
Poroshenko said he called on international partners to “pay attention to the dangerous trend of abuse of the state of martial law and the wartime elimination of political opposition, independent anti-corruption agencies, independent judiciary, independent media and investigative journalism”.
“By fighting Putin’s dictatorship, Ukraine itself should not become a dictatorship. Do not ignore it and do not close your eyes!” he concluded.
The travel ban appears to be another episode in the long-running conflict between Zelensky and Poroshenko.
On December 1, Ukrainian authorities banned Poroshenko from visiting Warsaw and the United States.
In Munich, Poroshenko was invited to speak at a panel discussion on “Expanding Protection: Coloring the Gray Zone in European Neighborhoods.”
He will also participate in the transatlantic CSU forum “How to defend the liberal world order against extremism and authoritarianism”, with participants including Bavarian Prime Minister and CSU Chairman Markus Söder and European Commission President Ursula von der Ryan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Poroshenko plans to hold a series of high-level bilateral meetings in Munich, including with Croatian Prime Minister Andrei Plenkovic and several U.S. Republicans, Poroshenko’s cabinet minister Kosiandin Yelisiev told Euractiv People, including Congressional Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner.
Yeliseyev said: “Every time President Poroshenko plans to visit abroad, it will become an issue considered by the presidential palace.”
He noted that when Poroshenko was banned from traveling to Warsaw and Washington in December, the presidential office used Ukrainian security services to “explain” the reasons behind the ban.
“They said at the time that President Poroshenko’s meeting with Prime Minister Orban would be used by Russia to propagandize against Ukraine. As far as the presidential office itself was eager to hold a meeting with Budapest, Yelisiev, Ukraine’s former ambassador to Brussels, said This statement is untrue and wrong.
Orban did meet with Zelensky, and the two exchanged a few words at the inauguration of Argentina’s new president, Javier Milley, in Buenos Aires on December 12.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
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