Election campaign in NRW: Scholz: Putin is destroying Russia’s future

Election campaign in North Rhine-Westphalia
Scholz: Putin is destroying Russia’s future

Chancellor Scholz is campaigning for the North Rhine-Westphalia SPD in Essen. He sharply attacked Russia’s President Putin. The SPD politician becomes emotional with disrupters during his Corona statements.

During an election campaign appearance in North Rhine-Westphalia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz accused Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of causing worldwide damage with the Russian attack on Ukraine. The war intensifies the economic and social problems that have already existed worldwide as a result of the corona pandemic, Scholz said at an SPD election event in Essen. “He is a destruction of the future far beyond Russia and Ukraine.” Putin follows an “imperialist vision of earlier centuries”. But they will oppose it and will continue to support Ukraine, including with weapons for defense.

Putin is not only responsible for death and destruction in Ukraine. “He is also destroying Russia’s future. That is President Putin’s big, big mistake,” Scholz continued. Everything is being done to ensure that the war ends quickly and that there is again a European peace order in which borders are no longer violated.

“Cry quietly”

During his appearance, the SPD politician reacted unexpectedly emotionally to whistles and disturbances during his remarks on the solidarity of people in the Corona crisis and with the refugees from Ukraine. He is proud of the solidarity of the citizens with the refugees from Ukraine. Solidarity also applies “when we talk about health. When we talk about how we can protect each other. For example, during the whole time of the corona pandemic,” explained Scholz, while whistles and heckling got louder and louder. “And I’m saying that because there are some people shouting out loud: Hello! Shout out, because that’s what we’re fighting for and what the citizens of Ukraine are fighting for. That you can speak your mind out loud without being afraid have to.”

Scholz drew the focus on freedom of expression in a democracy like Germany. “That’s why I don’t accept the evil cynicism with which some say that you can’t express your opinion on this subject here. It’s a lie! Look around the dictatorships of this world and you’ll know what that means,” exclaimed the 63 year old. “Just because you’re shouting loudly doesn’t mean you’re right. You need a few arguments for that. And one of these arguments is that the corona pandemic is a great threat to all of humanity.”

Scholz convinced of the final sprint

On May 15, a new state election will be held in the most populous federal state. Scholz was convinced that SPD top candidate Thomas Kutschaty would bring the SPD the next election victory. Kuchaty is “a man with very clear plans and a clever mind”. Even if many people are not yet focused on the state elections in 43 days in view of their everyday problems in Corona times and the brutal war in Ukraine, Scholz emphasized the importance of the NRW elections. People would weigh carefully. “And the closer the election day comes, the more so. You can see that you can really win. We saw that in the federal election and the final chord that the SPD made there,” the Chancellor referred to the change in the federal government last autumn . “And that will also succeed now.”

Kuschaty was happy about the great support from the federal SPD, all of whose leaders had come to Essen. As Prime Minister, in contrast to the CDU incumbent Hendrik Wüst, he wants to take responsibility for the country and the people. In his hometown of Essen, Kutschaty outlined the most urgent issues such as the rapid expansion of renewable energies, well and fairly paid work, free education from daycare to the master craftsman’s certificate or the construction of 100,000 new apartments.

The most recent Forsa survey from mid-March sees the CDU with 32 percent clearly ahead of the SPD (27 percent) for the first time. The Greens get 17 percent, the co-governing FDP 8 percent. The AfD is 6 percent. Several previous polls had seen the CDU and SPD go head-to-head. In purely mathematical terms, the incumbent black-yellow coalition would no longer have a majority.

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