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In 2002, Scholz took over as general secretary of the party under the Socialist Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Scholz’s active involvement in overcoming the Elbe flood crisis that year influenced this decision. Scholz was favored by Schroeder, who named his coveted “party general”.
For lack of emotionality, Scholz was called “Scholzomat”. This nickname was given to him by the weekly Die Zeit in 2003. When making speeches, he gave the impression of a mechanical machine. And when asked questions, he answered them almost exclusively in technocratic formulations and constantly repeated them. In the crisis situations of recent years, the politician’s rationality and restraint played into his hands; his negotiating and speaking style gave voters a sense of stability and a cold-blooded analytical approach to problem solving.
Scholz was part of Angela Merkel’s first coalition government, serving as Minister of Labor and Social Security, and in 2011 he was elected mayor of Hamburg, which he ruled until 2018.
As mayor, he demonstrated that he is ready to move away from the sacred German principle of “black zero” – no debt in the budget. In Hamburg, they recall that Scholz in 2012, contrary to the opinion about the dangers of building up state property, bought out the almost closed company Hapag-Lloyd (Hamburg’s flagship sea freight carrier). The Scholz administration paid half a billion euros to save the city’s critical economy and jobs. Within six years, the city sold its shares at a significant profit, reminds New Statesman.
In the current government of Merkel, the politician served as finance minister and demonstrated his ambitions in big politics. He quickly became one of the country’s most popular officials when he was in charge of distributing aid to German businesses and workers during the pandemic from the € 750 billion “anti-coronavirus” fund. reminds BBC.
In addition, one of the campaign promises of the Socialists and Scholz was a promise to raise the minimum hourly wage to 12 euros per hour from the current 9 euros 60 cents, which gave him even more votes in the elections.
During the election campaign, Scholz positioned himself as the “successor” of Merkel. With regard to Russia, how notes Deutsche Welle, that’s right. The lifting of sanctions against Russia or the recognition of Crimea is not worth waiting for, and Berlin’s support for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will not change, German analysts say.
Another channel of communication between Russia and the SPD is the former chancellor and former chief of Scholz in the party, and now the chairman of the board of directors of Rosneft, Gerhard Schroeder. Experts do not exclude that he will attempt to influence the opinion of the new chancellor about building relations with Moscow, being a lobbyist for Russian interests in Germany.
Male friendship, as in his time with Schroeder, between Putin and Scholz is impossible, the expert of the German Society for Foreign Policy Stefan Meister is sure.
“Olaf Scholz is definitely not Gerhard Schroeder, he is a different type of politician, more businesslike, more like Merkel”, – notes Meister in a commentary on Deutsche Welle. “He is not one of those who will go to the sauna with Putin.”
In general, Scholz is in favor of a dialogue with Russia. ” The politician emphasizes that he has no illusions about the Russian leadership, but, despite this, he is sure: “To improve the situation, bridges and communication channels need to exist.”
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