During a high-profile visit to Kyiv, German Chancellor Olaf Solz addressed the press only after his counterparts from France, Italy and Romania, and for a group photo, was sidelined, despite providing more help. in Ukraine than other countries together, reports Bloomberg.
The vision in Kyiv was not isolated, but it reflects how Soltz is still struggling to find his place on the international stage after the succession of Angela Merkel last December. As the host of the three-day G7 Summit starting today, he has a prime opportunity to begin to change that.
At the Elmau Palace in the Bavarian Alps, the 64-year-old Social Democrat wants to provide more financial aid to Ukraine, set up a fund to help poor countries deal with a food crisis and launch an initiative to coordinate national efforts to combat it. global warming, which he has dubbed the “Climate Club”.
If he fails to make progress, he will be added to the growing body of evidence that critics say is beyond his reach.
As is customary at meetings of the world’s largest industrial economies, Soltz invited representatives from around the developing world. This time, the roster consists of leaders from India, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal and Argentina. Scholz officials insisted on calling them “partners” rather than “guests.”
At the summit and beyond, Soltz’s goal is to expand the alliance against Russia. The chancellor and his aides have traveled the world in recent weeks to flirt with other countries and resist President Vladimir Putin’s claims that European sanctions, not Russian invasion, are to blame for blocking Ukrainian wheat shipments.
The most critical issue facing Soltz is the dispute with Russia over gas. Putin has drastically reduced supplies, prompting Berlin to take a step closer to delivering gas on Thursday. The controversy carries the risk of an unprecedented turmoil in the German economy and leaves Solz even less room for maneuver. To bow to Putin is not an option, nor is letting people freeze this winter.
After securing a surprise election victory in September, the war in Ukraine struck as his three-party coalition found its footing. His back-and-forth on arms deliveries and the SPD’s tradition of cooperating with Russia have weakened his position.
Scholz is a “quiet world leader acting slowly and unimaginably on the world stage,” trapped by his own divisive party and cumbersome coalition, said Daniela Schwarzer, executive director for Europe and Eurasia at the Open Society Foundations.
His Social Democrats lost two regional elections in May and are now third nationally in most polls, behind the Conservative bloc and the Greens, his coalition’s smallest partner. Support for the pro-business Free Democrats, who control the powerful Treasury, has fallen to less than 10%.
Internal issues affected Soltz’s ability to implement his international agenda. Shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he abandoned his usual cautiousness and promised a “maritime change” in German policy. The effort included a debt-funded fund of 100 billion euros ($ 105.5 billion) to modernize the country’s military and increase defense spending to 2% of economic output – as key allies have been demanding for years.
While it won the support of the opposition conservatives for securing the defense fund in the constitution, the fulfillment of promises to play a more assertive role in world affairs has been volatile.
After overturning his policy by agreeing to supply heavy weapons, his government offered to send PzH 2000 self-propelled grenade launchers in early May. They arrived just last week. A plan to send Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles remains stuck. Only 35% of the military aid promised by Germany was delivered on June 7, according to the Kiel Institute for World Economy.
In an initiative that could undermine its environmental agenda, Germany is pushing the G-7 states to withdraw a commitment that would stop funding overseas fossil fuel projects by the end of the year, according to those familiar with the matter. This move would be a major turning point in tackling climate change.
Germany pushes for G-7 reversal of fossil fuels in a climate shock
Some of Soltz’s tripods are about style. The low-key politician is more of a backstage operator seeking to forge a consensus in the background than to impress with big speeches and gestures, said a man close to the chancellor.
Soltz does not leave much to chance in meeting his counterparts from the USA, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Italy and Japan. The event takes place at the same quiet resort that created iconic images of Merkel and former President Barack Obama in 2015. The remote setting also avoids the risk of press demonstrations that tarnished the 2017 Hamburg summit when Soltz was mayor.
But it remains to be seen whether he can achieve anything tangible at the summit. With regard to Russia’s isolation, German officials have already downgraded expectations that partner countries such as India and South Africa will take a critical stance. European officials have also poured cold water on a US proposal to set a price ceiling on Russian oil.
Solz has hailed the event as an opportunity to begin restoring the post-war system of international rule-based institutions that has helped support German prosperity.
“It’s about building a new world order of peace,” Scholz said in a speech last week in the Bavarian town of Tutzing. “We are at the beginning of this global turning point.”
Solz sees his Climate Club as a way out. The goal is to create an alliance of countries willing to accept common rules and standards to combat global warming. If he makes progress, it will be an achievement that will bear his signature.
Speaking to German businessmen on Tuesday, Solz said such an institution was urgently needed to avoid a chaotic patchwork of national regulations. The risk would be new trade conflicts in which countries would impose “green tariffs” on goods that are considered less sustainable.
Scholz and Joerg Kukies, his top financial advisers, have managed to bring the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank with them to support their efforts.
The chancellor knows that it will take more than three days in the Alps to get support from other industrial economies, as well as from countries such as India, Indonesia and South Africa.
“Elmau is in the mountains, but we will definitely not move mountains there,” he said in his weekly videotaped speech on Saturday. “But we can make important decisions and prepare things that are worthwhile for all of us.”
Source: Capital
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