General debate with Scholz: crisis manager instead of visionary

“Good years” should be the 2020s, Scholz said – now the beginning of his chancellorship is marked by crises and war. Energy prices, arms deliveries and the pandemic – Scholz will have a lot to explain in the general debate.

Yesterday the Chancellor was still dealing with the earth from above, in a switch to the astronauts of the ISS space station. For the men in space it is clear: the earth is so tiny and precious in space – everyone has to stick together and protect it.

Today in the Bundestag, the chancellor has to deal with the fact that things are much more difficult down here on earth: war and climate destruction, a lack of energy and new mountains of debt are on the agenda today. Plus Corona. The pandemic alone was enough to make Scholz say at the beginning of his chancellorship: “These days it’s sometimes difficult not to lose heart.”

war not escalate

Now he needs a lot more courage. Together with the other Europeans and NATO, Scholz must ensure that the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine does not escalate. “Everything we do is also about preventing a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.”

It is also about the role of Germany. How exactly does Germany want to continue to help militarily, how will the Bundeswehr participate in European troops and, above all, how should the new mega-budget for the Bundeswehr be spent? Scholz had announced it single-handedly: “The federal budget for 2022 will provide this special fund with a one-off amount of 100 billion euros.”

Billions for the Bundeswehr and energy relief

Now there is a row with the Union, which, as the opposition, is demanding a say. She wants the budget to be used exclusively for the Bundeswehr – the traffic light coalition, on the other hand, is also discussing strengthening civil protection and cyber defense. If the Union were not to participate, Scholz would not get the necessary two-thirds majority to anchor the special fund in the Basic Law.

The war against Ukraine has given Scholz another problem: energy prices are going through the roof, food is becoming more expensive. The government has subsidized poorer households with an initial relief package. But that’s not enough: Scholz has to agree on a second relief package with his coalition partners.

FDP Finance Minister Lindner already gave clear guidelines on this yesterday: “Fast, accurate, temporary, coordinated at European level. I expect that in the end a combination of different instruments will be used because the living conditions in our country are also very different.” Among other things, fuel discounts or a general mobility allowance are on the table. An agreement is expected to be reached this week.

Climate protection in times of war is a challenge …

But that’s just a financial patch – the problem behind it is much bigger: Germany doesn’t have enough energy in embargo times, the Green Economics Minister is therefore on a gas shopping tour around the world and the Chancellor has to explain what the energy mix should look like in the near future .

His big campaign project: “Restructuring the economy towards climate-neutral production” has now taken on a completely different scope. Suddenly the terms coal and even nuclear power reappeared in the discussions.

… humanitarian aid as well

States and municipalities are now demanding a refugee summit with the chancellor and the federal government. Here, too, a lot of money is involved in distributing and caring for millions of people from Ukraine. The opposition criticizes the refugee management of the interior minister and the family minister is also under fire. So Scholz also has to defend his government team today.

Crisis manager instead of visionary

He certainly did not expect all of this to shape his first major general debate as chancellor when he formulated his vision for the future as new chancellor: “We want to shape the 1920s that lie ahead of us, we want it to be good years are coming and we want confidence, a look to the future that is filled with hope.”

In the meantime, it should be more about preventing the worst. Today the chancellor will have to present himself less as a visionary and more as a crisis manager.