Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel united in the refusal of the mea culpa

Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel have a clear conscience. Six months after the first had succeeded the second at the head of Germany, one and the other were questioned, at twenty-four hour intervals, on their positions concerning Russia and Ukraine. And to listen to them, they made the right choices, no offense to those who reproach them for excessive complacency towards Moscow and insufficient solidarity with regard to kyiv.

Let’s start with Olaf Scholz. On Wednesday June 8, the Chancellor received the Foreign Press Association in Germany. From the outset, there was talk of arms deliveries to Ukraine. Since the start of the war, Berlin has been accused of doing too little in this area. False trial, believes Mr. Scholz. “We must help Ukraine, while ensuring that this does not lead to a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia. For this, it is important that we are in unison with our allies. However, if you look at the United States, France or the United Kingdom, you will see that they are exactly on the same line.he said.

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Scholz, or “the one who presses the brake pedal”

Traveling to Vilnius on Tuesday, he went even further. “Germany is one of the countries that help Ukraine the most militarily. With the United States, few are those who do the same”he assured during a press conference at the headquarters of the Lithuanian presidency. “On this question, we are currently witnessing an accumulation of false information”, he added. A transparent allusion to the long investigation that the Spiegel published this weekend on German arms deliveries to Ukraine. An article with an unflattering title for the German Chancellor: “The one who presses the brake pedal”.

The problem for the latter is that he struggles to respond precisely to his detractors. This was the case on Wednesday when a journalist asked him why he still has not authorized the delivery of Marder tanks to Ukraine, even though there are some available and some members of the majority have asked Mr. Scholz to give the go-ahead. To this question, the chancellor did not answer clearly. the same applies to the Leopard 2 tanks that Spain is considering delivering to Ukraine. Having been purchased from Germany, they cannot be sent to kyiv without Berlin’s approval. However, this was not given, which Mr. Scholz’s government justifies by explaining that Madrid did not send it a formal request. A false pretext, believe many observers, for whom Germany has found here a very practical argument for delaying the delivery of this combat tank by “third generation”at the risk of giving the impression, once again, of not doing everything possible to help Ukraine.

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