Left hanging by Lula
Scholz’ advertising tour almost reaches its goal
From Nadine to Roxel
02/01/2023, 12:50 p.m
Three countries in four days: Argentina, Chile, Brazil. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is traveling to South America for the first time as head of government. The main thing is to expand relations, politically and economically. About a difficult mission with obstacles.
It’s a remarkable situation because you’ve never experienced it like this with Olaf Scholz. The press conference of the Chancellor and Brazilian President Lula de Silva had been going on for a while when Scholz stepped aside from his desk and waved his foreign policy advisor over to him. The two men speak very briefly, then the Chancellor stands behind the lectern again and listens to the Brazilian President. What happened? Translation device failed? An important message? It’s an extraordinary scene on the fringes of an extraordinary press conference.
Because Lula da Silva’s performance is somewhat bizarre, especially when it comes to the topic of Ukraine. He blames the country for Russia’s war of aggression. “I think Russia made the classic mistake of invading another country’s territory,” he said. “But I still think: ‘If one doesn’t want to, two don’t argue.’ He quotes this Brazilian proverb twice. He also brings himself and China into play as mediators. “I propose founding a club of countries who want to create peace on this planet.” The Chancellor stands next to the Brazilian politician with a Scholz-typical expressionless expression, listens and protests. He emphasizes that there can be no peace over the heads of the Ukrainians, that Russia should not get away with its imperialist war.
And that’s where the opening scene comes in again. Scholz has checked with his foreign policy adviser Jens Plötner whether he has expressed his stance clearly and unequivocally. That’s atypical for Olaf Scholz, especially in the middle of a press conference. And it also shows that some things didn’t go the way the chancellor had imagined.
“You were missed, dear Lula”
The anticipation of meeting Lula was actually great; Brazil was supposed to be the highlight of the Chancellor’s trip to Latin America. “You were missing, dear Lula,” says Scholz at the beginning of the press conference. He is courting the Brazilian President’s favor, trying to convince him of his course in Ukraine policy and of who is responsible for this war: Vladimir Putin. Scholz obviously missed these goals. On top of that, he gets several rejections from Lula: a no to the delivery of tank ammunition and the Brazilian does not want to participate in the climate club founded by Scholz.
That went better on the first two stops of the Latin America trip. Argentina is joining the climate club, and Chile even wants to take on a leadership role together with Germany. In Chile, it is primarily about raw materials. The country has copper and especially lithium, which is badly needed for batteries in electric cars. Scholz is mainly on a promotional tour in Chile, but also in Argentina. Germany wants to become more independent of China and therefore needs new partners. But there is a problem here too: China of all places has long since conquered the Chilean market and is the big player in the lithium business. Germany wants to counter this with fair conditions and environmentally friendly technologies. Not sure if that will actually work.
Scholz himself draws a positive conclusion
Back to Brazil. On the last day, the Federal Chancellor does a city tour of the capital Brasilia, standing there where a few weeks ago thousands stormed the Congress and the President’s seat. The traces are still visible. Broken windows, destroyed toilets, barriers everywhere. While Scholz is walking across the square in front of the seat of government, the distinctive voice of Lula da Silva, who seems to be giving a press conference there, sounds from inside.
The day before – late in the evening after the bizarre joint appearance – both sides had issued a joint statement condemning the war in Ukraine much more clearly than Lula did in the press conference. And yet one thing in particular sticks with Scholz’s visit to Brazil, Lula pretty much let the German Chancellor down.
Of course, Olaf Scholz draws a much more positive conclusion. He speaks of a successful journey and an important contribution to Germany’s repositioning “in a world that is changing rapidly, in which we must have good relationships with others all over the world and not only look at ourselves,” as he explains . That is likely to be a lengthy mission for the chancellor – and, as this trip to Latin America has shown, a difficult one at that.