Chancellor Scholz is a guest at Maybrit Illner on ZDF. Here, too, the topic is Putin’s war against Ukraine. The TV review.
Berlin – War has been raging in Europe for a week, just a thousand kilometers from the German capital. Maybrit Illner (ZDF) also dealt with the dominant topic of these days on Thursday evening, the only guest: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
Olaf Scholz has been in office for 86 days and probably expected that the Corona crisis would be the biggest problem in the early phase of his chancellorship. But the invasion of Russian troops into neighboring Ukraine shocked the world and changed German domestic and foreign policy faster and more radically than anything since September 11th.
Ukraine conflict: Olaf Scholz at Maybrit Illner on ZDF: sanctions as a basis
Scholz visited the Ukraine only last year and, with Maybrit Illner on ZDF, recalled encounters with young soldiers in the Ukraine conflict who are now going to war and may have to lose their lives. “The images of war are unbearable,” said Scholz, just what to do? “The measures should be continued, the sanctions should create the basis for diplomacy.” But how long will humanitarian aid last, Maybrit Illner asked on ZDF, implying that at some point military intervention could also take place. “We need a truce. The goal must be for the Russian troops to withdraw, as unlikely as that sounds at the moment,” emphasized Scholz.
Change through trade, critical dialogue, for years that was the status quo, but that’s over. Germany delivered weapons to the Ukraine and decided what not least the USA has been demanding for years: to spend at least 2% of the gross national product on armaments. Could an earlier decision to spend more on weapons have prevented the war? “No!” Scholz replied vehemently, who tried again and again to appear level-headed and considered, but wanted to radiate determination. Which was only partially successful: At times Scholz seemed jittery, as one is used to from Joe Biden, hesitated for a long time before beginning an answer, looked for words, especially when he had to formulate freely and could not fall back on empty phrases.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz at Maybrit Illner (ZDF) on the Ukraine conflict: more money for armaments
“Change through rapprochement has failed,” Lars Klingbeil was quoted as saying, but Scholz did not want to go so far as to completely condemn the policy that Willy Brandt helped shape. German unity was achieved through diplomatic unity, but in this case Putin’s blatant breach of international law turned the tide. Inevitably, the conversation turned to former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who has still not decidedly distanced himself from his intimate friend Vladimir Putin and seems increasingly isolated. Even BVB has withdrawn his honorary membership, that must hurt. Maybrit Illner called the former chancellor corruptible on ZDF, Scholz said: “My advice to Gerhard Schröder is to resign his offices.”
Ukraine conflict at Maybrit Illner (ZDF): How did war come about?
But why was there a war at all? Again and again, Maybrit Illner tried to portray Scholz and with him the whole of German politics in recent years as naïve and too conciliatory, as if diplomacy had never been an option. But what does Putin want? A Finlandization of Ukraine, i.e. a neutral buffer state between the blocs? Admission of Ukraine to NATO was not on the agenda, but the trend seems to have been in that direction for Russia. Scholz identified this concern, whether justified or not, as the most important reason for the war.
One consequence of the war is the stop of Nord Stream 2, but gas and oil are still being imported from Russia, thereby helping to finance the regime. An embargo would jeopardize the social peace of the country, Maybrit Illner quoted on ZDF Economics Minister Robert Habeck, who seems to say what he really thinks like hardly any other German politician these days. Scholz, on the other hand, showed himself to be in the best campaign mode in these 60 minutes: rhetorical, ticking off talking points. It was only at the end that it became very clear: the federal government will do everything in its power to stop the acts of war, which does not mean, however, that it wants to and is able to actively enter a war in Ukraine. The situation is different with regard to NATO allies such as Poland or the Baltic countries. One can only hope that it doesn’t come to that. (Michael Meyn)
TV criticism of Stern TV: A Bundeswehr colonel recently paid homage to Selenskyj and the Klitschko brothers.
