Schäuble: “If you’re cold, don’t complain, put on a sweater or two” – German advice for winter

Convinced that the Russian president “in the end will calculate with logic”, declares the former speaker of the federal parliament Wolfgang Schäuble and advises the West not to back down in the face of Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats. He describes German society as “spoiled”, emphasizes that the state should only help those in real need and urges citizens to “just put on a sweater – or a second sweater”, but also to be ready for possible power outages, with matches , candles and lanterns.

“We must not allow ourselves to be intimidated by the threat of nuclear use. This is also the art of not doing something that could lead to further escalation,” said Mr. Schäuble in an interview on BILD TV, stressing, however, that the use of nuclear weapons is a “red line” that has recently been crossed Vladimir Putin “scratches” with his threats. “I would not like to be chancellor at this time and bear the brunt of this decision. But one thing is clear, if you give in once, you will always give in. And I’ve always had good results in my life saying, ‘No, they won’t blackmail me,'” he added.

In response to a question whether the Vladimir Putin may lose the war in Ukraine, Wolfgang Schäuble stated that “this is no longer so unrealistic” and stated that “we are in a situation where Putin has to painfully understand that his army is not even intellectually so effective as he believed.’ In this context, he continued, “we could say: ‘Putin, come on! You will pay a very high price!”. But we have to bet that in the end Putin will figure things out with logic. By now he seems to be counting on us all backing down under his threats. Not allowed. We have to understand that this war is our business too,” he stressed, arguing that the Germans have not yet realized this, despite the dire effects of inflation and high energy prices.

“If necessary, don’t go on vacation once” – “German society is spoiled”

Mr. Schäuble also explains that the state cannot relieve everyone of the extra burdens, but should help those who are in real need, according to the Athens News Agency. “We should say to the others: If necessary, don’t go on vacation for once”, he said characteristically he spoke of the danger “of thinking that the state is something that just has to provide its citizens with more and more, a kind of supermarket in which citizens are bargain hunters”. He also emphasized that it is not a sustainable situation for citizens to believe that the state can do everything.

Asked about it, Wolfgang Schäuble even admitted that German society is spoiled. “Me too,” he confessed. “But now we must resist the danger of things continuing like this forever. The Germans will have to make a greater effort again”, he emphasized and expressed concern over the fact, as he said, that more and more Germans prefer to work less and less. “Everywhere there is a shortage of labor and my experience is that it is no satisfaction in life to have fun all the time,” he said.

“Many Germans they should freeze this winter,” the reporter pointed out to Mr. Schäuble, to get the answer: “Then just let them wear a sweater. Or maybe even a second sweater. We shouldn’t whine about it, we should recognize that a lot is not self-evident”, not even the electricity, which, as he said, can sometimes be interrupted. “That’s why we should always have some candles, matches and a flashlight at home.”

However, the interview ended on an optimistic note, with Mr. Schäuble saying that he always finds reasons to laugh. “Laughter is free and relaxing. We have no reason to give up.”