analysis
A few days before the European elections, Chancellor Scholz used his government statement to convey security. He also announced measures that will probably be difficult to implement with his coalition partners.
When Chancellor Olaf Scholz steps up to the lectern in the Bundestag on Thursday morning, there are only three days left until the European elections. It is an unusual time for a government statement so close to a major election. The suspicion is that it could be purely tactical. But there is also the second major event in the coming days: the European Football Championship in Germany. The Chancellor therefore wants to send the signal that the Federal Government is ensuring security.
“Olaf Scholz had to react. That was expected, even by the opposition,” says political scientist Sabine Kropp from the Free University of Berlin. The fatal knife attack in Mannheim and the numerous attacks on politicians in recent weeks have shaken citizens’ sense of security. Scholz therefore used the government statement not only to convey his position, but also to convey emotion. “There were many turns of phrase that were also intended to calm people down or express sympathy,” Kropp continued.
Greens against deportation to Afghanistan
But it is not just the timing of the speech that is unusual. Some of the announcements are also surprising. The Chancellor wants to deport criminals, even if they come from Syria or Afghanistan. But probably not directly there, because to do that Germany would have to establish diplomatic relations with the Taliban, for example. The SPD-led Federal Ministry of the Interior is looking for other “legally and practically viable ways” and is in talks with Afghanistan’s neighboring countries.
Scholz does not get any more specific. He also leaves open how he intends to convince his Green coalition partner of this. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, for example, sits on the government bench with a stony expression on her face while Scholz talks about it. She recently expressed concerns about deportations to Afghanistan and she is not alone in her scepticism. The Green Party parliamentary group leader, Britta Hasselmann, raises the question of which of Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries would be attractive for taking in terrorists and serious criminals.
Bushman blocked Compulsory insurance
But it is not only on this issue that Scholz is encountering resistance in his coalition. In connection with the flooding in southern Germany, for example, he says that it is also a matter of insuring against possible damage, and he boldly announces: “We are making progress in the area of natural hazard insurance.”
This insurance against damage caused by storms, hail or floods is still voluntary. However, in March last year the states decided in the Federal Council that it should become compulsory so that the state does not always have to step in with millions of euros.
But so far the plan has failed, mainly because of the FDP and Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. In his view, insurance does not solve the problem of the risk of damage. In addition, it would be far too costly to check and assess the insurance requirement for all 19 million residential buildings in Germany. Above all, however, this would increase housing costs for everyone, because owners are allowed to pass the insurance costs on to their tenants.
Not everything is new, but it should be reassuring
He says nothing about how Scholz intends to turn the Justice Minister’s no into a yes. At least he does not provide any new arguments. Instead, the Chancellor announces further measures that are less controversial in the coalition. Attacks on security forces or politicians are to be punished more harshly and criminal law is to be amended accordingly. Scholz also lists everything his government has already done: from banning extremist groups such as Samidoun to funding coastal and flood protection.
None of this is new, but it is intended to be reassuring. This also applies to the last part of his speech, in which he justifies his decision to allow Ukraine to use German weapons against targets in Russia. At the same time, he announces that he will continue to work for peace through diplomatic means.
Finally, the Chancellor stresses something that is actually self-evident: his government is resolutely opposed to all threats that endanger the country’s security. All citizens can rely on that. It is not the only sentence in his speech that comes across as more of a tranquilizer.