Former Chancellor Schröder would resign if Russia stopped gas. Green politician Hofreiter sticks to his criticism of Scholz. News ticker.
- Ukraine conflict: Gerard Schröder would resign if Russia stopped gasbut is also farther ready to mediate.
- CDU leader Merz calls for one Government statement by Chancellor Scholz.
- In the discussion about the delivery of heavy weapons affirmed the Green politician court rider his criticism of Scholz.
- This News ticker on Germany’s reactions to the Ukraine war is continuously updated.
Schröder still ready to mediate in the Ukraine war
Update from April 23, 6:59 p.m.: Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has once again agreed to mediate in the Ukraine war. “I have always represented German interests. I do what I can. At least one side trusts me,” the former SPD leader and current lobbyist for Russian energy companies told the New York Times. A peace solution must now be reached as quickly as possible. “I think this war was a mistake and I’ve always said so.”
Schröder traveled to Moscow in March to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to his own statements, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was not informed about the trip. The 78-year-old Schröder did not comment on the details of the conversation with Putin in the interview and only revealed this much: “What I can tell you is that Putin is interested in ending the war. But that’s not so easy. There are a few points that need to be clarified.”
the New York Times According to his own statements, he spoke twice to the former Chancellor in his hometown of Hanover. It is the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine war that the former chancellor, who has been a friend of Putin for many years, speaks out in an interview.
Ukraine war: Schröder would “resign” if Russia stopped gas
Update from April 23, 6:08 p.m.: Apparently, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder can only imagine resigning from his post for Russian energy companies in one case: when Russian President Vladimir Putin turns off the gas for Germany and the European Union. In an interview published on Saturday New York Times he says that he doesn’t expect such a scenario: “It won’t happen.” But if it does happen, “then I would resign,” he adds, without explicitly saying from which post.
Schröder is the head of the supervisory board at the Russian state energy giant Rosneft and most recently also worked for the pipeline companies Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2. He is heavily criticized in Germany because he has not parted with his posts despite the Russian attack on Ukraine. Four SPD associations have therefore applied for party exclusion proceedings against Schröder.
The Russian energy giant Gazprom also nominated Schröder for a supervisory board post in early February – shortly before the Russian attack on Ukraine. The Annual General Meeting is scheduled for June 30th. Schroeder made a noise New York Times open in the interview whether he will accept the nomination.
Ukraine war: Lindner strengthens Scholz’s back
Update from April 23, 4:16 p.m.: In the debate about arms deliveries to Ukraine, FDP chairman Christian Lindner has backed Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and sharply criticized the CDU/CSU opposition. “The Chancellor has the confidence of the FDP and also of their parliamentary group in the German Bundestag,” said Lindner at the federal party conference on Saturday in Berlin. Party Deputy Wolfgang Kubicki also attacked the SPD and blamed it for the international criticism of Germany’s hesitant attitude. The FDP leadership also defended the corona easing course, for which the liberals had to take a lot of criticism.
Lindner was connected digitally from Washington, where he is in quarantine due to a corona infection. According to the finance minister, the symptoms are only mild. His speech, which lasted around 40 minutes, was repeatedly interrupted by dropouts in the transmission. Despite standing up for Scholz, Lindner also emphasized: “Ukraine needs military aid and heavy weapons.”
Germany and the Ukraine war: Wüst accuses Scholz of “procrastinating”.
Update from April 23, 2:35 p.m.: North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of “hesitating” on sanctions against Russia and arms deliveries to Ukraine. “In this situation, you can only act in close coordination with our western allies,” said the CDU top candidate at the central campaign start of the NRW-CDU for the state election. But the government is doing the opposite. The traffic light government had always hesitated for a long time about the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, the sanctions against Moscow and military support for Ukraine.
“Germany has never been so apathetic and isolated in Europe as it is today,” said Wüst, adding: “The procrastination of the SPD chancellor is a terrible mistake.” Everyone can see that the SPD obviously has a “Putin problem,” said Wüst also with a view to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD). She is under a lot of pressure because of the construction of the Baltic gas pipeline. Critics accuse Schwesig of being pro-Russian for a long time. The SPD’s Russia problem stretches as far as North Rhine-Westphalia, where SPD opposition leader Thomas Kutschaty defended Schwesig, said Wüst.
Germany and the Ukraine war: Buschmann wants to hold “Putin’s butcher” accountable
Update from April 23, 2:20 p.m.: At the FDP party conference, Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann announced that similar to the “torture servants of Assad”, the “butchers of Putin” would also be successfully brought to justice in Germany. “Vladimir Putin believed that when the guns speak, the law is silent. But today we can say: This war of aggression violates international law. The justification for this is a lie,” says Buschmann.
Germany and the Ukraine war: Merz demands a government statement from Chancellor Scholz
Update from April 23, 1:45 p.m.: The CDU federal chairman Friedrich Merz has asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for a government statement on his Russia course and arms deliveries to Ukraine in the Bundestag next week. Scholz must say how he assesses the situation and should discuss the way with the opposition, said the Union parliamentary group leader on Saturday in Düsseldorf at the central election campaign start of the NRW-CDU for the state election. If Scholz does not do this, the Union faction has prepared its application for arms deliveries in order to bring its ideas to parliament. “We have an overwhelmed government,” said Merz.
There is already a majority in the Bundestag with the CDU, FDP and Greens for the delivery of heavy weapons, said Merz. The CDU and CSU, as the largest opposition factions, want to vote on the application as early as next week and hope for the approval of coalition politicians from the Greens and the FDP, who have spoken out in favor of arms deliveries. “We don’t want to present the government, we want to help our country,” said Merz, also with a view to international criticism of the federal government’s Ukraine course.
“Scholz is very similar to Merkel, that’s the problem”: Hofreiter identifies the chancellor’s style flaws
First report: Berlin – Olaf Scholz is in the line of fire – the Green politician Anton Hofreiter reiterates his criticism of the Chancellor’s course. In an interview, the chairman of the Bundestag’s Europe Committee accused Scholz of Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper again expressed hesitation and compared the style of the SPD chancellor with that of his predecessor Angela Merkel (CDU). “Scholz is very similar to Merkel, that’s the problem,” said Hofreiter.
The difference to Merkel is that “all the crises that she approached too hesitantly were slowly developing crises” – he cited the climate crisis as an example. “We only feel the consequences of Merkel’s hesitation with a time lag. But decisions in war have to be made within days, better still within hours,” says Hofreiter. And the style of Merkel and Scholz does not fit in there.
Germany and the Ukraine war: Hofreiter compares Scholz to Merkel – and attacks the Union
However, Hofreiter also criticized Union faction leader Friedrich Merz because of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s planned application for arms deliveries. The largest opposition faction is also hoping for the approval of coalition politicians from the Greens and the FDP, who have spoken out in favor of the delivery of heavy weapons.
“I don’t think much of using such things for small-scale party-political gains,” stressed Hofreiter. If the Union really wants to achieve that heavy weapons are delivered, “then it should do everything possible to increase the pressure – and not make party-politically motivated proposals, which are always rejected by government majorities”. The SPD has also accused the Union of using party tactics.
Germany’s attitude in the Ukraine war: “Have a chancellor who is too hesitant at the moment”
Hofreiter summed it up: “We have a chancellor who is too hesitant at the moment, and an opposition leader who does not have the interests of the whole in mind, but rather small-scale politics. Both are a problem.” According to Hofreiter, he does not see any danger for the traffic light coalition. “I see a struggle in the coalition in an extremely difficult situation for the right actions.” (dpa/cibo)
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