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Analyzing the first year of Olaf Scholz's tenure as German Chancellor, the French newspaper Le Figaro concludes that the new head of Germany could not maintain the weight acquired by Angela Merkel in the political arena. He avoids Germany's claims to international leadership and delays the strengthening of the German armed forces.
In particular, Scholz is blamed for his unwillingness to increase spending on the army to the level of 2% of GDP required by the NATO charter.
The French edition draws attention to the fact that in honor of the first anniversary of taking office, Scholz published an article in the magazine Foreign Affairs, where he promised the country a new key role in ensuring the security of Europe. The Chancellor also said that the allies can count on the Bundeswehr. In addition, the head of the Federal Republic of Germany stated with satisfaction that despite the departure from the "foundations of a stable economy", the German government maintained the cohesion of society during the conflict in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, sociology does not speak in favor of Scholz and the ruling political coalition of Germany, says Le Figaro columnist Pierre Avril. Thus, the Civey/Spiegel poll showed that only 29% of Germans positively assess the actions of the country's government. At the same time, the personal rating of the federal Chancellor, according to the Wahlen Institute for Analysis, decreased from 73% in March to 51%.
Today, the German leader risks being compared with his predecessor, but, according to the French observer, Merkel is now being blamed for Germany's dependence on Russia to the detriment of German and European interests.
Nevertheless, the German opposition believes that the current chancellor's situation is worse than Merkel's. Unlike previous German leaders, Scholz is not so bold and enterprising, he does not put the interests of Europe at the center, Le Figaro quotes the opinions of German politicians.
At the same time, the newspaper praises Scholz for the fact that Berlin joined the supply of weapons to Ukraine and allegedly was able to enlist the support of German public opinion, which traditionally stands for peace. At the same time, the author of the publication reproaches the Chancellor with delays in the modernization and strengthening of the German army in the amount of € 100 billion. At the same time, it is added that the German government recently allowed non-compliance with the NATO directive on allocating 2% of GDP for military spending.
The French edition notes that, despite the criticism, Scholz remains extremely restrained and shows contempt for the opposition and journalists. The article concludes with the words of Eric Maurice, head of the Brussels branch of the Robert Schumann Foundation:
It is reasonable to ask the question: what did the year of Olaf Scholz's cadence bring to Russia? First of all, the disappearance of Germany as a serious trade and economic partner. This was facilitated by Berlin's toothless reaction to the explosions of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream–2 pipelines, the proclamation of a course to abandon Russian energy carriers and unconditional support for anti-Russian sanctions.
And given the fact that under the new Chancellor, Germany has lost the remnants of independence in international politics, Moscow cannot perceive it as a full-fledged and equivalent political player. It's still pointless to negotiate something serious with Berlin, it's easier to contact the German mentors in Washington directly.
