“If Olaf Scholz started talking like Robert Habeck, everyone would think it was carnival.”
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has acknowledged controversy within the coalition with the FDP and the Greens. “I’m not going to tell you the story that everything always works great at traffic lights. Of course it jerks, it’s quite normal,” he told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday).
But he called for mutual fairness. “The promise of this government is that everyone should be able to find common ground and that every party should be able to achieve success. We have assured ourselves that projects will not be implemented against each other, but with each other. This promise applies to all three parties.”
Kühnert defended the communication style of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and said: “With his Hanseatic sobriety, he is a brand. I can’t take Heino’s sunglasses away and Udo Lindenberg’s hat.”
And: “If Olaf Scholz started talking like Robert Habeck, everyone would think it was carnival.” History will prove Scholz right that his deliberative style is the right one to convey serious politics in serious times.
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Kühnert also criticized that Gerhard Schröder had resigned from the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Rosneft too late. The decision of the former SPD chancellor was “probably not entirely accidental,” said the Secretary General, obviously with a view to the pressure on Schröder from the federal government, the Bundestag and the EU Parliament. “Unfortunately much too late.”
Will sanctions against Gerhard Schröder follow?
However, Kühnert kept a low profile on the EU Parliament’s specific demand for sanctions against Schröder. “I have no reason to hold a protective hand over him. If there are clear, objective criteria for sanctions lists, then of course they apply to everyone. Others will have to judge whether that is the case here.”
On the other hand, Chancellor Scholz opposed the demand for sanctions and, with a view to the withdrawal of some of the former chancellor’s privileges by the Bundestag, said: “This is the decision that is now necessary, I don’t think any more are necessary.”
Rosneft announced on Friday that Schröder would not extend his term as head of the supervisory board. Schröder is also nominated for the supervisory board of the Russian energy company Gazprom and works as a leading lobbyist for the Gazprom subsidiaries Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2.
More: Schröder leaves the board of directors of the Russian oil company Rosneft