Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) caused a stir with a sentence about Putin’s gas extortion. At the engineering summit, he said he was “always certain” that Putin would do just that. But in December, Scholz did not want to stop Nord-Stream-2 – despite all the criticism.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) made people sit up and take notice with a sentence at the mechanical engineering summit on Tuesday. The Chancellor said about the Russian energy supplies that Putin “also uses them as a weapon”. And further: “I was always sure that he would do that.” The speech can be seen on Youtube.
Scholz also said – as he has often done during appearances – that shortly after taking office in December 2021, he asked his employees what would actually happen “if Russia stopped delivering gas”. And further: “That was, I think you can say that here, at a time when most didn’t think it was likely, but I thought it was possible.”
Explosive: During the Chancellorship of Angela Merkel (CDU), Scholz was first Labor Minister, then Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor. Now he claims to have foreseen the gas blackmail by Putin, but supported the Chancellor’s course at the time.
With this assessment, Scholz raised eyebrows among observers and the opposition, as Politico writes. Because Scholz had also described Nord-Stream-2 as a “private-sector project” until December. Only two days before Russia invaded Ukraine did the federal government stop the commissioning of the pipeline.
“As recently as December, Olaf Scholz said that Nord Stream 2 was a purely private-sector project. Discovering his conscience and his position now seems strange,” said CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter “Politico” to the Chancellor’s words.