Lonely decision: Scholz released the battle tanks for Ukraine alone – without consulting Baerbock.
Did he want to give the minister a lesson?
Berlin – The dispute over the delivery of German battle tanks for Ukraine is having an impact in the federal government.
There are more and more cracks in the relationship between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens).
Apparently, the head of government gave the promise for the 14 Leopard tanks alone - and initially left the authorities of the Green politician clueless.
This was reported by the news portal
t-online
.
It would be another chapter in the constant strife of the government partners.
Baerbock vs. Scholz: Chancellor left the minister in the dark about the battle tank decision
For weeks, the traffic light coalition had been arguing about the delivery of battle tanks.
Above all, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was on the brakes and did not want to give in to Ukraine's demands - for fear of a further escalation of the conflict with Russia.
In contrast to the head of government, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had already called for the Leopard 2 tanks to be handed over in autumn 2022 and repeatedly put pressure on them internally.
But only when the USA also promised the delivery of Abrams tanks did Scholz give in to pressure.
+
Didn't involve Minister Baerbock in the tank deal: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
© Fabrizio Bensch/dpa
Battle tanks for Ukraine: Scholz arranged the deal for the Leopard 2 without Baerbock
For a long time, however, he left his minister in the dark about the change of course.
This is shown by the
t-online
research.
Accordingly, the Baerbock authority sent a communiqué to all German diplomatic missions shortly before the deal became known.
It contains the official terminology on the tank question, according to which there is “no decision by the federal government yet” and that there is still a “need for discussion” with regard to the Leopard 2 main battle tank, the portal quotes from the paper.
It was sent an hour before the tank deal was announced.
For Baerbock that's a slap.
Either she was not aware of what was going on in her own house.
Or she was not involved in the final decision on the release of the Leopard main battle tanks.
In the evening, the communiqué was then withdrawn by the Federal Foreign Office and replaced by an updated version.
Declaration of war against Russia: Baerbock slip of the tongue makes Scholz shake his head
The uncoordinated approach is unlikely to have done the relationship between the chancellor and the foreign minister any good.
It has long been considered tense.
So far, Baerbock has been rather bold in the Ukraine war, calling for battle tanks early on and saying that Germany is also in a “war against Russia”.
The sentence was immediately corrected by the Foreign Office, but for days it was a steep template for the Russian propaganda machine.
So far, Scholz has not said a critical word about his minister.
Internally, however, things are simmering, as the
Bild
newspaper recently reported.
Government officials confirmed that the minister's constant forcing ahead displeased the chancellor.
The Greens would be under observation, it said.
It is quite possible that Scholz wanted to give his cabinet colleague a lesson.
(
jkf
)
List of rubrics: © Fabrizio Bensch/dpa