Comment on Putin's statements: ghost driver Gerhard Schröder

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Comment on Putin's statements: ghost driver Gerhard Schröder Mona Jaeger • 23 million • 3 minutes reading time The Chancellor, who would regret at least some of his previous decisions, probably still has to be elected. Gerhard Schröder is not alone in his unshakable self-confidence. Nevertheless, it is disconcerting that he hardly misses an opportunity to assert his rock-solid friendship with Vladimir Putin even now. The SPD may be swaying on its Russian policy course these days. Ghost driver Gerhard Schröder steadfastly stays on track. Schröder not only trivializes the actions and intentions of the Kremlin leaders, he also easily separates Putin as a person from his politics. This is astonishing for someone like Schröder, who was a politician with every fiber of his being and practiced it like a martial art. There is no way to know if this friendship is mutual. But when Schröder now says in an interview with the German Press Agency that perhaps their close relationship could help to pacify the situation, then one has to realize: Schröder was unable to do anything with Putin when he left shortly after the outbreak two years ago met with him during the Ukrainian war. A peace mission can only be successful if the aggressor also wants peace. Putin would have the chance to do that at any time. You don't need a former German Chancellor for this. Just talking about mistakes is not enough Schröder's statements come at a time when the SPD appears extremely unstable. The party always gave this impression in the past, but now it provides the chancellor and determines the course of foreign policy. It is hardly surprising that Schröder praises his successor as “Peace Chancellor”. Now you can't choose your fans. But of course the party also has itself to blame for allowing doubts about its consistent support for Ukraine. Party leader Lars Klingbeil has ordered his party to comprehensively review its own Russia policy. And he means it too. But it is not enough to speak of “mistakes” that were made in the past in a party conference resolution. In any case, no one will dissuade Schröder from his convictions. Unfortunately, the reaction from most of the party shows that Klingbeil's show of strength has so far failed, even beyond Hanover. Scholz is not suitable as peace chancellor Significantly, the SPD has rarely been as satisfied with its Chancellor as when he rejected the Taurus delivery to Ukraine. The old Russia policy is not back, but shockingly many in the SPD find it very easy to fall back into old patterns. These are comfortable, learned, and they probably arise from a certain defiance, even in the face of miserable survey results. What those who would like to send Scholz into the election campaign as an angel of peace forget - including Gerhard Schröder: Scholz is only of limited use as a peace chancellor. Because there is no doubt that he stands on Ukraine's side and repeatedly calls on his Western partners to supply more weapons. Unfortunately, the SPD is currently prone to making false conclusions. The most prominent example is Willy Brandt. Its détente policy is sacred in the SPD. He founded the modern “Party of Peace”. But the same applies to him: he cannot choose his imitators. In the 1970s, realpolitik foreign policy and social democratic visions of détente coincided. That's different today. But some are still stuck in that time - Gerhard Schröder probably, Rolf Mützenich, who is thinking about “freezing” the Ukrainian war, certainly.