It went on midnight and Olaf Scholz was offended. In the press conference, someone from Chancellor wanted to know why he did not “take” his alleged successor Friedrich Merz for the EU Ukraine special summit of the EU in Brussels in Brussels. Angela Merkel also “took” him for the G20 summit in Rome four years ago. That was too much for Scholz.
He could simply have answered that he was then the finance minister to the G20 in Rome, but was only a opposition leader. And you couldn't put it at the table of state and government heads for protocol reasons. But Scholz played the stunned eternity for eternity: how you could ask such a question at all?
Most perceive the German political turnaround as a liberation
It was not a sovereign appearance, but you could also understand the Chancellor: Scholz had Merz in piggyback whether he wanted it or not. Because the unprecedented investment program, on which Merz agreed with the SPD in the coalition negotiations, in particular the plan to upgrade the Bundeswehr, was par excellence in Brussels. It is the tragedy of the SPD Chancellor Scholz that a CDU chancellor Merz will soon be able to pursue social democratic European policy in pure form.
Only a small remnant of economical states such as Austria or the Netherlands feels abandoned by Germany. The others perceive the political turnaround as a liberation for the whole European Union, as the best that Europe could have happened after the historical scandal in the White House a week ago that seemed to signal: US President Donald Trump is looking for the proximity to the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and drops Ukraine-and with it he drops all of Europe.
Scholz pointed out several times in Brussels that in Germany exactly what he has always demanded and why he let his traffic light coalition burst: the country had to loosen its debt brake. Germany, the largest and richest country in the EU, has “captivated” itself and is now in the process of “unleashing” themselves. The unleashed Germany should become a model for the unleashing of Europe, said Scholz. The EU had to look for ways to loosen even more money for investing in the EU's military defense.
First of all, they are only large numbers that have been agreed in Berlin and Brussels. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen came with her weakness for impressive round sums to 800 billion euros, which could also mobilize Europe for defense spending. The most specific part of the invoice is an EU fund of 150 billion euros, which, according to the general assessment, will not be sufficient. In addition, the Leyen contributes to the European investment bank and private capital as well as investments by the Member States that are possible if the EU loosens its debt rules.
Ukraine do not help these large numbers in their defense fight against the Russian army at short notice. In doing so, she would urgently need a replacement for arms aid from the United States, which Trump exposed this week. The EU foreign commissioner Kaja Kallas wanted to relax 20 billion euros for weapons and ammunition at the Member States before this summit. But that didn't work.
Wolodimir Selenskij was primarily able to take signs of long -term solidarity from Brussels. The EU, unlike Trump, continues to consider him a legitimate Ukrainian president. If it comes to negotiations with Russia soon, she wants to insist that Ukraine is preserved as a sovereign state and that it will receive security guarantees as part of a comprehensive peace treaty. France and Great Britain offer to send troops for peacekeeping. Olaf Scholz focuses more on the fact that Ukraine needs a powerful army in the long term. For their financing, the Chancellor says that Europe will have to spend a lot of money for a very long time.
The Hungarian head of government Viktor Orbán agreed to the upgrade plans, but refused to the Ukraine strategy, which is entitled “Peace through strength”. Therefore, it was attached to the summit declaration on behalf of 26 of the 27 heads of state and government as an appendix. This may be seen as an indication of the division, in the EU most feel it as an overdue clarification: the Hungarian, who behaves as a European governor of Donald Trump, is all alone.
Macron wants to clarify things in a personal conversation
Europe did not go down – that is the message, a week after the scandal in the White House. Europe is trying to swim free. At the moment there is no sign that Trump wants to include the EU in ceasefire negotiations. But don't worry that French President Emmanuel Macron has of course agreed to clarify things in a personal conversation with Donald Trump – and, if necessary, also with Vladimir Putin.
With this sense of broadcast, Macron gets on some of his colleagues, especially the Italian Giorgia Meloni. She would prefer to caress Trump rather than step towards him at eye level. But Macron took the lead. He held a dramatic television speech in which he sworn in Europe on the fight against the “Russian threat”, which had to be rejected without American help. He concluded a covenant with the British Prime Minister Keir Strandmer as head of the second European nuclear power. He won the German transatlantic Friedrich Merz for his concept of “European sovereignty” and even got involved in a debate about whether Germany could go under the protection of the French nuance.
Now Friedrich Merz seems to be ready to infer Emmanuel Macron's French consciousness with German money. This is also the hope that Donald Trump may understand: this Europe has to be taken seriously.
