2023-12-16 15:39:09
By Pierre Avril
Published 13 hours ago, Updated 6 hours ago
Olaf Scholz at the SPD congress on December 9. LIESA JOHANNSSEN/REUTERS
BIG STORY – With 15% voting intentions, his social democratic party is breaking records for unpopularity. But among his people, the man who governs the leading European power seems to mock the criticism.
Correspondent in Berlin
Armed with his smirk, Olaf Scholz goes through the trials with placidity and has a modest triumph. Thursday evening in Brussels, the chancellor used an old political trick to prevent Viktor Orban from vetoing the opening of negotiations with Ukraine. Before the vote, he suggested to the Hungarian leader to go for a coffee outside the Council room during the vote to circumvent the unanimity rule. Which did not prevent the latter from subsequently opposing aid of 50 billion euros in favor of kyiv.
On Wednesday, at the end of a month of political chaos, the German leader presented a budgetary compromise with the feeling of duty accomplished. But it was on December 9, in the rotunda of the Berlin fair, that he already felt he had reaped his laurels. That day, the “Comrade Scholz” is back for the annual congress of the Social Democratic Party, and that’s all that matters to the chancellor and the activists.
The co-president…
This article is reserved for subscribers. You have 93% left to discover.
Do you want to read more?
Unlock all items immediately.
Already subscribed? Log in
#Olaf #Scholz #German #chancellor