Scholz Is Uninspiring, Not Chancellor Material, Security Policy Expert Says

Chancellor Scholz's government is in crisis, hemorrhaging support and drowning in problems.

Dubaj, 2023. december 2. Olaf Scholz német kancellár beszédet mond az ENSZ 28. nemzetközi éghajlatváltozási konferenciájának (COP28) kétnapos csúcstalálkozóján Dubajban 2023. december 2-án. MTI/EPA/Martin Divisek Fotó: Martin Divisek

Olaf Scholz has not been having the best of times lately. Farmers' protests persist across the country, while railway workers were also on strike, effectively paralyzing Germany.

Farmers are protesting all over Germany, he promised to solve the problem, but refuses to meet with farmers. This is a fundamental mistake,

security policy expert Gyorgy Nogradi told Magyar Nemzet, adding that "every economic protest in history sooner or later announced political goals. Many people have joined the farmers, including German railway workers."

The popularity of the country's "Ampelkoalition" or traffic light coalition government of Social Democrats (SDP), the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and the Greens is hemorrhaging, with only 17% of the population satisfied with their work.

"Germany has not had a three-party government since the 1960s, the three parties are incapable of working together, but Scholz cannot resign unless they have chosen a new chief, to ensure that the country is not without a chancellor. Olaf Scholz may well be a good financial expert, but he is definitely not charismatic and not chancellor material." 

Scholz was not expecting his chancellorship to be a terrible forced marriage,

"The liberals (FDP) are perpetually pseudo-intellectualizing, something they've done all their history, and currently they stand at just four percent. If elections were held now, they wouldn't even get into parliament. In order to stay afloat, they have now figured that they would be willing to negotiate with the farmers," explained Gyorgy Nogradi. "The third party, the Greens' ex-leaders Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock, have positions in the government, and the new leadership is at least interesting. Scholz is in a difficult situation, he is increasingly losing control of the government - anyone would feel unwell in this scenario," the expert said, assessing the recent news that the chancellor is not in good shape. Over the weekend, German daily Bild had reported that the chancellor was "not looking well" during a visit to a factory: saying he was pale, had huge bags under his eyes and was clutching one hand with the other.

The German press has also reported that Scholz has allegedly stuck to the age-old mailing system technology for fear of Russian espionage, and had previously been paranoid that his DNA could be obtained through a PCR test.

"Today the secret services can get at anything they want. This makes things terribly difficult. In recent years, the US secret services have recruited some members of the German services, which became a huge scandal when it came to light, obviously the Russians are doing the same."

The number one person never has any friends but has a lot of problems, and Germany's chief is now experiencing this,

added the security expert, who also noted that the chancellor has faced problems before.  

"Olaf Scholz has been a politician all his life. When he was mayor of Bremen, he was implicated in a giant corruption scandal which he hasn't entirely been able to clear himself of. He wanted to be president of his party, but couldn't, the party forced him to run for chancellor because they couldn't find anyone else," the expert said.

Meanwhile, farmers announced the biggest ever demonstration in the works for Monday, with hundreds of thousands expected in Berlin. The wave of discontent seems to be spilling across the borders of Germany, with spontaneous protests developing in Romania, and Austrian farmers growing louder. 

The decisions of the Scholz government are slowly making the livelihood of  farmers impossible.

"How much money have they taken from farmers?" Nogradi poses the question which he then promptly answers:

Four hundred million euros a year - they hiked the cost of gasoline and diesel and introduced a tax on agricultural vehicles. We are talking about a fraction of the aid and loans to Ukraine.

"Germany provides fifty percent of the funding within the EU, and as it stands, Scholz is refusing to hand Ukraine Taurus missiles, which have a range reaching into Russia's interior. In all else, Berlin is in agreement with Washington. The German government is so weakened that it is barely able to advocate for its own interests," Nogradi explained.

Olaf Scholz is not a major player on the international stage either. Although he was the last visitor to the Kremlin before the war broke out, when he asked Vladimir Putin if he would see Russian air force planes bombing Ukraine on his way back to Germany, the Russian president did not reply. While Merkel was able to discuss all matters with Putin in Russian,

Scholz carries no authority, he couldn't even manage without an interpreter. The German economy and government are not delivering on expectations, and France is vying to take over Europe's leadership from Germany,

the expert stressed.

Cover photo: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Photo: MTI/EPA/Martin Divisek)