At Maybrit Illner, Chancellor Scholz has to defend himself - against criticism from the invited citizens, but above all against their concerns. Two of them have a problem with one of the three coalition parties.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned of the possibility of an energy crisis, but at the same time emphasized that the federal government is preparing the country "for a shortage". The federal government started "thinking through these questions" in December, Scholz told Maybrit Illner on Thursday evening, "that's why we're very, very far along with the preparatory measures." Scholz said of the likelihood of such a shortage: "It can happen, but it doesn't have to."
It was the last edition of the ZDF talk show before the summer break. This time the central questions did not come from moderator Maybrit Illner, but from five guests. The student and climate activist Rifka Lambrecht, the intensive care nurse Ralf Berning and the publisher and writer Kateryna Mishchenko, who fled the Ukraine, are sitting in the studio in Berlin. Also connected are Cornelia and Steffen Stiebling, who run a traditional bakery in Thuringia. They all have very different, sometimes conflicting concerns. Scholz listens, lists the measures planned by his federal government, tries to give hope, not always with success.
The bearded intensive care nurse Ralf Berning, who is also on Instagram and has been campaigning for more support for nursing staff for years, is the beginning. Berning is married with a child on the way. He fears his family will have trouble paying the gas bill. He wants to set aside part of his Christmas and vacation pay for this. Berning asks whether work is still worthwhile when there is hardly anything left of the salary at the end. "Absolutely," replies Scholz. Otherwise everything would collapse. "We have to generate our prosperity together."
But in the end you have to get something out of your work, says Scholz. The government made sure of that: with two aid packages totaling 30 billion euros, an increase in child benefit and the minimum wage, a 9-euro ticket and a fuel discount. He also started the "concerted action" on Monday, "so that we can hook up for the future". Of course, he cannot promise anyone that everything that is happening in the world and leading to the current crisis will stop at the touch of a button.
Master baker Stiebling has another problem: the prices for grain, oil and even packaging are rising, as are energy prices anyway. His rolls now cost 70 cents a piece, significantly more than at the discounter. He cannot pass the rising prices on to his customers because then his sales threaten to collapse. Stiebling and his wife certainly seem like optimistic people, but their worries are written all over their faces.
Scholz shows understanding, but he has no specific help on offer. Many small businesses would face existential problems. That's why we try to keep gas costs as low as possible. But the Chancellor concedes that it will still take some time before the gas dependency on Russia is eliminated and the country has switched to renewable energies. Stiebling proposes opening the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline for the delivery of Russian gas. "Germany can't impose such sanctions against a state on which it depends and keep stoking the fire," he says. "How much longer is this going to work?"
Scholz replies that Germany has made sure to only impose sanctions that do not cause more damage in this country than in Russia. Gas deliveries are not sanctioned at all. The fact that Russia has throttled its gas supplies is a unilateral decision from Moscow. "There are no reasons for this from the sanctions."
Stiebling sticks to it: You have to talk to Russia now. "I can't drive the country into a wall because I'm against the war," he says. Scholz replies that he is certain that the mood will continue to be such that "we can maintain solidarity with Ukraine from Germany for as long as it is necessary". The federal government has "ensured that everything that can be done is done", such as filling the gas storage facilities, planning LNG ports and providing coal-fired power plants as a replacement. In addition, a concept is being developed on how gas will be distributed if there is actually a shortage. "We really prepare ourselves every day with great intensity so that such a situation can arise. But it hasn't happened yet."
With her friendly smile and her hoop earrings, student Rifka Lambrecht seems as if she couldn't murmur. But then she is the one who really gets the chancellor in trouble. Lambrecht fears that her generation will end up the losers: she cites the climate catastrophe - she refers to the weeks of forest fires in nearby Brandenburg - and a pension system that she doesn't seem to trust. "We have to shoulder that, and that worries and scares me," she says. Scholz is playing the Ukraine war and the climate catastrophe off against each other. The switch to renewable energies can be much faster. This requires a tax reform that puts a heavier burden on the wealthy, as well as a turnaround in transport: Instead of the 9-euro ticket for three months, the prices for train tickets should have been lowered in the long term. But: “The traffic turnaround is being boldly blocked by the FDP. And I ask myself, Mr. Scholz, why don’t you hit the table there?”
Apparently Scholz does not intend to do that. "The task is to manage to save Ukraine, the economy and the climate," he promises. "We have to do it all at the same time, especially now." A few hours earlier, the Bundestag had decided that Germany would push ahead with the expansion of renewable energies at great speed.
Intensive care nurse Berning also has a party from the traffic light coalition in his sights: "I have the feeling that the FDP is the biggest brake in this coalition, but that you are unfortunately forced to work with the FDP." Scholz promises that the relief packages so far are "not the end, we will do more". Scholz does not criticize the FDP, he only discreetly points out that there is "no legislative majority for tax increases". But that was no different in the past few years.
Throughout the show, Scholz gives the impression of a man who looks worried but confident about the future. Energy crisis: can be tough, but doesn't have to be. National debt: Germany can shoulder that with its economic strength. Pension system: remains stable. War in Ukraine: "We will stand in solidarity with Ukraine for as long as it takes to enable Ukraine to defend itself against the terrible attack on the country."
If there had been winners and losers on this show, one would have to judge: Scholz was not a clear winner that evening, but he was also under a lot of pressure. The winners were the committed guests, who urgently drew attention to the acute problems. Scholz gave the encourager. In view of the large number of crises, he has no other role for the time being.
