The German chancellor tried to make a joke on Ukraine. And he nailed it

The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Olaf Scholz, started talking to the citizens of Lüneburg. About 71,000 people live in the city, located about 50 kilometers southeast of Hamburg. And Scholz debated with them. About Ukraine. According to the Bild newspaper server he joked inappropriately at the expense of Ukraine.

It all started innocently enough when Scholz was answering a question about whether Germany would provide Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles. “There are weapons that can only be delivered if you maintain control over everything that is done with them,” the Chancellor recited a response he had said many times before.

But then he smiled and added a note. “And you can’t have a debate like you would between friends.” With a laugh, he acted out a conversation between supposed friends who don’t trust each other very much. “Of course I trust my friends.” However, he added in one breath: “However, I wouldn’t give everyone all the weapons” – and, impressed by his opinion, he begins to laugh uncontrollably, according to Bild. “Scholz is having fun with his own joke – while Ukrainians are fighting death from Russian missiles every day and are eagerly hoping that Taurus missiles will cut off Putin’s supply routes,” added the server of the German newspaper.

The opposition CDU criticized the chancellor.

“It is absolutely shameful that the chancellor cackles and laughs at the expense of Ukraine. The giggling chancellor insults the people who fought for their survival and also for our freedom in Ukraine,” said opposition CDU MP Carsten Linnemann.

At the same time, it seems that Scholz himself has problems in the coalition. The preparation of the budget for next year has stalled. They had until the beginning of May according to the server of the Tagesschau news program ministers to present the budget ideas of their departments. “Another scandal is already looming – and there is a threat of further budget holes,” wrote the server of the Tagesschau show. It is said that the scandal is planned because next year there will be parliamentary elections in Germany.

“Everything depends on these budget negotiations: planned pension reform, basic social security for children, various climate protection programs, more money for defense. Now the trades take place in the background and the game continues: whoever flinches first loses,” wrote the Tagesschau north.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner insists on keeping the debt brake, and that could be a problem for the coalition partners, as much more than 20 billion euros will need to be saved to make it work, according to the Tagesschau. One of the ways to save is, for example, to postpone the retirement age. But the social democrats are already announcing to the world in advance – “we won’t do it”. And instead they propose to loosen the debt brake, which in turn is unacceptable for Lindner.

The third coalition party – the Greens – sides with the Social Democrats in this dispute.

The opposition CDU/CSU expects the budget negotiations to be long and painful for the coalition. Even the CDU/CSU does not want to loosen the debt brake, which means that the government will probably not find enough votes to change the constitutional law on the debt brake. In the end, the coalition will either have to push through cuts or raise taxes if it wants to keep its promise and keep the budget in line.

Reinhold Würth, one of Germany’s economic pioneers, is “very worried” about the country’s future and especially the rise of the AfD. “AfD inspires distrust in everyone. There are signs that the values ​​of the Basic Law are being undermined,” said Würth in an interview with the server of the Handelsblatt newspaper.

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