Ukraine, Berlin Weak points on the western front? Today emergency meeting of the Spd-Corriere.it

This afternoon in Berlin, in the Willy Brandt House, the headquarters of the SPD there is a emergency meeting unprecedented and important. It was convened by Secretary General Lars Klingbeil and the parliamentary group leader Rolf Mtzenick, the deputy foreign minister Michael Roth, the prime minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Manuela Schwesig and the former party leader Martin Schultz. There is no Chancellor Scholz, but party sources assure him that he will be kept informed in real time of the progress and outcome of the meeting. Topic of the meeting: the Ukraine crisis and the attitude towards Russia. Germany’s most important governing party has a problem. And Germany has it with the SPD. Since Vladimir Putin concentrated more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine, made a number of demands on the US and NATO and threatened “technical-military measures” if they are not met, Germany – the first country in Europe – has become more indispensable Pivotal to the Atlantic Alliance – emerged as a weak link on the western front.

in view of this, it is more a matter of perception than of substance Germany fully aligned with the allies on the position that Russian military action against Kiev would have “massive consequences” in the form of countermeasures and sanctions, including the closure of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. But it is a fact that German caution is the absolute priority that Berlin gives to the dialogue with Mosca that they c fedRites and distrust of Olaf Scholz’s new red-yellow-green government.

As always, the evil hides in the details. There was the “Rumor of the Escaped Senator” from Admiral Kay-Achim Schnbach, the head of the German Navy, who was forced to resign after saying: “Putin is just asking for a little respect, and he probably deserves it“. And if the refusal to deliver weapons to Kiev is fully inscribed in the country’s post-war tradition, in cases of war it excludes, played The decision to give Ukraine 5,000 soldiers’ helmets is embarrassingwhat said to ex-Kiev boxer and mayor Vitali Klitschko: “Will you send us pillows next time?”.

But the real problem is social democracy, which is now openly torn by an internal controversy that risks paralyzing the chancellor himself. For historical, political and, above all, economic reasons, the SPD has always advocated an open channel with Moscow. The legacy of the National Socialist war of annihilation against the Soviet Union and the Ostpolitik tradition, with which Willy Brandt initiated an intensive dialogue with the communist countries in the middle of the Cold War, still form the basis of this position today. And then there is Russian gas, an indispensable raw material for the German economy, including Nord Stream 2, the gas pipeline that runs under the North Sea, bypassing Ukraine, now completed but not yet operational, has become the stumbling block of scandal. “Project only economically and not politically,” said Chancellor Scholz a few weeks ago, apart from the cancellation, in this in full continuity with former Chancellor Angela Merkel. Now even Scholz seems to have taken note of the reality and admits that a Russian military aggression against Ukraine would radically change the scenario and nothing can be ruled out, including the blockade of Nord Stream 2.

The SPD for split. Especially for the influence that former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder still exerts on this issuewho of the Nord Stream 2 consortium president and as head of the so-called Putin understander (those who understand Putin) in Germany. The truth is, Schröder never misses an opportunity to defend the Kremlin chief’s reasons with whom a strong friendship is connected. “I hope that this whole rumor about sabers in Ukraine will come to an end, they leave speechless the accusations against Germany not wanting to deliver weapons to Kiev,” he said at the weekend. Schröder’s line has many supporters within the party, from Mötzenick to Schwesig herself to Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht. That goes without saying Schröder and the others are supposed to keep Nord Stream 2 out anyway. But Deputy Minister Roth and ex-Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel were critical of both the pipeline and the arms deliveries: “In view of what is happening, everything has to be discussed and no more notes.” In the meantime, The calls to the party leadership to distance themselves from Schröder are getting louder. Today’s meeting should bring clarity.