Facts check: Baerbock quote falsified and exploited

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Alliance 90/The Greens) spoke on Wednesday at "Forum 2000", a conference in Prague that dealt with threats to democracy and, above all, with the war in Ukraine and at which the EU Foreign Ministers to meet informally.

In addition to Baerbock, other foreign ministers, such as the Ukrainian Dmytro Kuleba, also spoke at a panel discussion at the opening event. Among other things, the discussion, which was held in English, dealt with the question of how long European countries can or should maintain support for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia.

You can read a translated transcript of Baerbock's testimony at the event here.

At the event, Baerbock gave the following, very long answer to the question about the goal that is now being pursued in Ukraine:

"We stand by Ukraine for as long as they need us. And because we all agree on that and it's nothing to applaud because it's something normal when you think about justice and freedom in the world And that's where I would like to start a discussion about your speech, which I really appreciated, but I disagree on one point when you said that we shouldn't talk about the fact that this war could drag on for a long time

Because if I, as a politician, make the promise - and fortunately in a democracy there is a possibility that people will contradict me and say in four years: 'You didn't tell us the truth' - but if I make this promise to the Ukrainians : 'We will be by your side as long as you need us', then I would like to deliver, no matter what my German voters think, but I would like to deliver for the Ukrainian population. And that's why it's important to me to always be very open and clear.