Two visits – by current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the Siemens Energy plant and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to Moscow – have been the focus of attention by German politicians and the media. Both trips were linked to the war Russia is waging against Ukraine and the energy crisis in Europe over Russian gas. Media reactions to these trips were diametrically opposed.

Die Welt: Scholz’s Counterpropaganda Mission

Travel to Mülheim an der Ruhr, where a turbine for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which has been serviced in Canada, has been at the Siemens Energy plant since mid-July, the absence of which, according to Russia’s Gazprom, is causing a sharp reduction in the supply of gas to Europe, Olaf Scholz carries out a counter-propaganda mission, writes the German edition of Die Welt. Together with Siemens Energy boss Christian Bruch, they want to “personally demonstrate that the turbine is ready for shipment and waiting in the wings – and thus expose the Russian side, which for weeks has resisted its acceptance, using all new pretexts.” “It’s important for me to make it clear that the turbine can be used at any time,” says Scholz. “Nothing prevents it from being transported to Russia. The Russian recipient must declare that he wants to receive the turbine and provide customs with the necessary information to transport it to Russia.” All other authorizations, emphasizes Scholz, were received from both the EU and Germany and Canada, highlights Die Welt.

SZ: Scholz wants to show Germans Putin’s lies

“Not only the country’s economic prospects, but also the chancellor’s political prospects” depend on whether Germany can adapt to what Scholz in Mülheim an der Ruhr called “Putin’s bluff”, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The chancellor’s message is addressed not so much to the Russian president as to ordinary Germans: look, it’s not about this turbine, which has undergone first-class maintenance. “As little as the turbine itself, which Siemens says will not be needed until September, has the effect of reducing gas supplies, so installing it has the effect of preventing Putin from coming up with new excuses to reduce or even completely stop supplies. .says the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

FAZ on Schroeder: attempt to undermine the German government’s position

Behind the actions of Gazprom, which, for no good reason, has reduced gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 20 percent of possible capacities, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), is an attempt of “launching the Nord Stream – 2 gas pipeline” that the German government refused to sanction after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This idea was expressed by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder after his visit to Russia, where he said he met with President Vladimir Putin. In an interview with Stern magazine, the former chancellor called it “the easiest solution” to the gas crisis. “Thus, he undermined the position of the current German government, which clearly wants the stoppage of the certification of the pipeline to be understood as a reaction to Putin’s attack”, writes FAZ and quotes the statement by the current head of the German government. “The Nord Stream 2 certification process has ended ‘for good reasons’; Gazprom has ‘sufficient capacity’ on Nord Stream 1 and other pipelines to meet its supply obligations.”

Gerhard Schroeder and Vladimir Putin (File Photo)

Bijan Djir-Sarai, secretary general of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), also agrees that former Chancellor Schroeder’s latest actions are aimed at undermining the German government’s position. The former chancellor, according to the liberal politician, is “an integral part of the Putin system”. Schroeder appears to have “completely lost touch with reality, he is spreading the Kremlin’s clean water propaganda in Germany,” Jir-Saray told Bild newspaper. The politician called the former chancellor “Putin’s spokesperson”. “Russia is deliberately using its energy resources as a weapon against Europe and Germany, and Schroeder justifies this dangerous strategy,” Jir-Saray said.

Tagesspiegel: “Schröder did not express a desire to be an intermediary”

In an interview with Stern magazine after his trip to Moscow, Gerhard Schroeder once again expressed doubts that his “distancing from Vladimir Putin would really benefit anyone, and also sincerely wondered why he should stop negotiations with the Russian side”. be useful again,” said the 78-year-old politician, who has long been criticized for his closeness to Putin and his work for Russia’s oil and gas complex. Peskov, responding to journalists’ question whether Schroeder’s candidacy is being discussed as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in the war, which has lasted more than five months, replied: “Schroeder has not expressed any desire to become a mediator”

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It is little wonder that Schroeder’s latest statements, that Russia, they say, is ready for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, have been criticized by German politicians. In particular, the deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag, Thorsten Frei, reminded the Rheinische Post of the recent statements by Russian Chancellor Lavrov that “Ukraine should be wiped off the map”. These “realities” must be considered, not “following the fantasies of a man who puts his personal financial interests above the interests of his country,” the politician said of Schroeder.