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The Chancellor regularly explains his policy to the people. So on Tuesday in Cottbus, where his SPD is just ahead of the AfD. The evening went more harmoniously than some expected.
With coffee, cake and buttered pretzels, the guests waited for the big moment in the Stadthalle Cottbus. Regional newspapers drew 150 from 450 registrations.
Silvia Noack also applied – with success. “You have to use the rights you have sometimes and can’t always just complain,” she says of her participation in the “Chancellor Talks” in the city in eastern Germany. “This is the best opportunity. You can’t get any closer to the big events.”
“It’s always the case that the little ones pay”
Silvia Noack is very happy with the chancellor. However, Eckhart Kloos is not. ‘I’m just here out of curiosity. I don’t have a question, I’m just looking at it,” he explains. Everything that is happening at the moment is against the population. “Whether it’s the green stuff or the war – we’ll pay for it. It’s always the little ones who pay.”
Legend:
The German chancellor has a tight agenda. But he also travels regularly to the regions. As here in Cottbus, he answers the questions of the citizens in the so-called Chancellor Talks.
Keystone/EPA/Hannibal Hanschke
Some may have shared this attitude. “That he dares to go here,” said a young man to his neighbor about Scholz. Maybe they were prepared for a rough pitch, here in the east in the Stadthalle, where hit concerts usually provide harmonious tones. But it remained calm, decent, concentrated – the Chancellor approachable.
The Chancellor and the War
After a few minutes, the Ukraine war was an issue. A woman asked the Chancellor what was wrong with relying on negotiations with Russia and pursuing them “with the same energy as arms deliveries”.
Scholz explained that he was one of the few who still spoke to the Russian President. But: «If you talk about negotiations, it can’t be a dictated peace. It’s bad negotiating with a gun to your temple.” The goal of the negotiations must be compatible with the freedom and self-determination of the people in Ukraine who are fighting for their country.
It is a false, absurd theory to describe Germany as a vassal state.
Then the supporter of a twisted conspiracy theory had his say: “Germany, that is, the FRG, is still not a sovereign state, Mr. Chancellor. And when I observe the decisions of the last few years, it is not difficult to see that we are a vassal state of the USA.”
Chancellor Scholz countered politely but firmly: “Thank you for your question. As you can imagine, I’m not convinced you’re right. But I would like to answer your question.” First, Germany is a sovereign state, Scholz clarified, citing the historic agreements with the Allies and the achievements of reunification.
“Full marks” from an unexpected source
Germany’s sovereignty is “final and legally secured in every respect,” said the Chancellor. «It is a false, absurd theory to describe Germany as a vassal state. And secondly, we are a democracy by choice.” And therefore dependent on cooperation with other democracies.
Legend:
Opencast lignite mining in East Germany (2019).
Keystone/DPA/Jan Woitas
It only got really emotional with one local politician. She complained that they were getting the increasing aggression of the people there – for example because of the poor medical care in the region. The subject has been raised several times. The local politician called for more support from the federal government at the municipal level.
“Please take me seriously, because I’m a very, very difficult person: I annoy the administrations,” said the woman. Education and pensions were also discussed. Surprisingly, however, not the enormous structural change here in Lusatia, with the phasing out of lignite. Some missed that. But the questioners were chosen at random.
Many noticed that the Chancellor eloquently avoided specific answers. But the format – “at eye level”, as it is called – was very well received.
The man who thinks Germany is not sovereign was not satisfied with Scholz’s answer, but even he could see a good side in the Chancellor’s appearance. “I was pleasantly surprised that he answered these questions so extensively. Full points.”