energies
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Two months after the start of the war in Ukraine, the government of Olaf Scholz and the Social Democratic Party are struggling to be clear in their relationship with Russia, particularly in its energy dependence, because of the former head of government .
Gerhard Schröder continues to earn millions in Russian gas. Despite criticism, he still refuses to cut ties with his “good friend” Vladimir Poutine. The former Social Democratic Chancellor, father of the “second German economic miracle”, repeated it in an interview with New York Times : he does not regret anything. “I’m not going to give you the mea culpa. It’s not my type”, he told the American daily. Of course this war is a “error” but Putin would, according to him, “every interest in putting an end to it”. “There are still a few points to be clarified”, he said… without specifying which ones.
Each time Gerhard Schröder speaks, the entire Social Democratic Party (SPD) finds itself in the dock. Since the beginning of the war, the traditional German left has constantly had to justify itself on the attitude “understanding” of the party vis-à-vis Moscow which has made Germany so energy dependent on Russia. The SPD has been in power for the past twenty-five years (with only one four-year hiatus).
Even Chancellor Olaf Scholz, formerly…